Winter Siege
by invisiblewing
Summary: Cover of "Frozen" from Defenders of Berk.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Thanks to OinkyThePiggy for suggesting this idea.**

**_Riders of Berk_ belongs to Dreamworks.**

**This story is rated T for violence. No profanity.**

**Comments, suggestions and reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading!**

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Just like any other place in the world, we have four seasons in Berk. And that's where the similarity ends. The number. Our seasons are winter, devastating winter, lethal winter and three weeks of the best weather you could ever imagine. Those three weeks had already passed, taking winter with them and leaving us somewhere in the middle of devastating winter. The ground was completely hidden, unless there was something that blocked snow from reaching that point. Then you could see the ground was frozen solid. For the record, I liked the snow better. Not as much chance of slipping on it. But it was a trade-off, because sinking to your waist in snow was always a possibility.

Vikings are a hardy bunch. Somehow, we always managed to survive the three winter seasons we had with just barely enough food, only to worry about the next harvest. We had no time to wait. A delay in planting and fertilizing the land meant less food for us when there was no more growing season. But somehow, we always made it. I guess you could say it was our stubbornness that got us through the winters.

Besides the skin-shattering cold and food shortages, winters brought a totally different host of problems than summers. For example, there was always a boat somewhere that would get stuck in an ice sheet. And equally unfortunately, the only way to extricate it was by waiting for the ice to thaw.

My dad woke me at what seemed like an ungodly hour, but then I remembered the days were short during winter.

"Hiccup. _Hiccup._"

I blearily opened my eyes to find a mountain of a man standing about five feet away from my bed. Glanced toward Toothless and saw him curled up on his rock. Every time he exhaled, a plume of steam escaped from his nose.

"Mm. Y-yeah, Dad?" I yawned. Sat up and stretched. Took a deep breath, feeling my lungs burn slightly from the cold air.

"Bucket and Mulch were fishing this morning and found Johann's boat."

"Johann..." I repeated, trying to connect that name with someone. I quickly figured out who it was. "Trader Johann..." I paused for a moment, then asked, "And they brought him back with them?" I asked. That would have been the sensible thing to do. But then I remembered Bucket and Mulch weren't exactly the sharpest axes on Berk.

"No, they didn't," he replied. "Would you believe me if I told you Trader Johann refused that?"

"N-Yes," I said, correcting myself mid-word. A pang of realization jolted me into being fully awake. "Johann won't let his boat out of his sight," I explained. I continued, extrapolating from there. "…Aaaand that means we've gotta figure out how to get his boat back on water. Great."

"Sounds like you're ready to find him," my dad said with a hint of satisfaction. "You and Toothless can eat breakfast, but make sure you find Johann. I don't think he'll live through the night on that boat."

"Got it," I said with a sigh. I sighed as I got out of bed and shuffled over to Toothless. His eyes were already open, so he must have been awake for at least the conversation between me and my dad.

"Hey there, bud," I whispered to Toothless. He grunted quietly and lifted his head to look at me. Toothless stood and stretched with a yawn, a cloud of steam exiting his mouth as he closed it. He padded over to me and rubbed underneath my left hand, asking for attention. For a brief moment, I wondered if it was actually possible to refuse a Night Fury's demand for attention. I thought about it, then decided on an answer: probably not.

Across the room was my winter clothing. I knew walking outside with a simple flying vest, shirt and pants was a recipe for frostbite. Luckily, I had a yak skin coat with matching earmuffs as well as thick trousers. I had made all of these items while experimenting during occasional bouts of down time at the forge. I donned the coat, muffs and trousers and looked at Toothless. I felt jealous of him because he could tolerate the cold incredibly well, even with no fur or other type of insulation. His ability to produce fire internally came in quite handy during winters.

"C'mon, bud," I told him. "Breakfast first, then we'll go somewhere." I plodded down the stairs after him, then opened our door. A blast of cold air hit me in the face, which was completely normal for this time of year. Toothless bounded out, throwing snow behind him. He turned and looked at me before continuing to romp around.

"Aw, come on, Toothless," I complained sarcastically. "The snow was so nice like it was a few seconds ago…" I looked around, noticing the sky was a drab, uniform grey.

Toothless seemed to love being in snow. Probably because he thought he could hide in it and jump out playfully, surprising unsuspecting Vikings. I thought he was hilarious during these moments. It was ridiculously easy to spot him from a mile off because his jet-black hide contrasted the bright intensity of the snow around him.

I let Toothless jump around until he found a deeper pocket of snow by accident. I heard him grunt in surprise, and then he was silent after that. Time for an ambush.

For the record, even though I could see Toothless most of the time when he was preparing an ambush like this, he still startled me every time he jumped. He didn't need stealth when he was so fast to move. And this time, the drift was high enough to hide him.

"All right, buddy," I said with a grin to the air in front of me. I walked out and began tip-toeing my way in his direction. As I got near the drift he had crashed into, my heart rate quickened slightly. I knew he was going to jump out soon, but I didn't know exactly when he'd do it. "Toothless?" I said, trying to lull him out of his hiding spot.

I took one step to my left with my peg, and the drift two feet in front of me exploded in a shower of ice and snow. I let out a yelp as I fell backwards, just like normal. The bursts of snow Toothless could create during an ambush were surprising enough to make even my dad stumble.

I fell on my rear, and Toothless lunged forward, nudging me on my back with his snout. He had his teeth bared, glaring directly into my face with a soft growl. And just as quickly, he pulled his mouth into a grin, his eyes widening in happiness. He grunted and swiped his tongue quickly up my chest and face and then bounded in the direction of the great hall for breakfast with a short, excited roar, snow flying from underneath his feet.

I wiped off Night Fury saliva as I stood and cautiously walked in his direction. I had designed a Gronckle iron plate to fit at the bottom of my peg for snowy conditions like this. Last year, I learned very quickly that a simple peg would sink to the bottom of any snow drift I stepped into. But even having that plate, I still felt uneasy about walking on snow.

I arrived at the great hall with Toothless waiting impatiently for me. We walked in…well, _I_ walked in. Toothless nearly danced his way through the doors. He followed me every step of the way to a table, where I told him to wait. I grabbed a basket with fish, and a dish with a cooked salmon for myself. Brought the basket back to Toothless and flipped the lid open. He grunted eagerly as he stuck his head into the basket and pulled out a fish. He looked at me as he bit it in half and swallowed.

"Really?" I asked him. While I loved Toothless's little quirks, I sometimes wished he'd find different ways to show his feelings for me.

Toothless shuffled around his basket and stood on all fours with his head maybe a foot from my right shoulder. Before I could say or do anything, his eyes lost focus as his stomach sucked in. After three hurking cough-like movements, Toothless regurgitated the front end of the fish into my lap. I sighed, rolled my eyes and brushed the fish off my lap.

"Thanks, buddy," I said, trying to at least sound grateful. For Toothless, sharing a meal like that was probably one of the strongest ways for him to say he liked me. I scratched under his chin for a few seconds, making him rumble in pleasure, his eyes closed. After I turned to my meal, Toothless went back to his basket, and we ate in general silence.

I was about to take the dish and basket to the back of the hall when Astrid sat down across from me, Stormfly not five feet away from her.

"I saw Toothless attack you earlier," she said.

"Oh, yeah. He, uh, likes to do that," I replied.

"Hey, I heard Trader Johann is stuck in an ice sheet," she said, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah, my dad said I need to get him today. I'm still trying to figure out why he declined to come back with Mulch and Bucket."

Astrid blinked in disbelief. "Does he think the junk on his boat is too valuable to lose?" she asked.

"That was my first guess. But I thought Johann was smarter than wanting to stay stranded in the middle of winter."

"So you're gonna find him and basically kidnap him?" she inferred.

"If you wanna say it like that, then yes," I replied with a hint of sarcasm. She grinned. "There is no way he'll last the night in that boat," I added.

Astrid simply looked at me. Stormfly had already finished her basket of cooked chicken. She nudged Astrid's shoulder with her snout, telling her it was time to go somewhere.

"Well, good luck finding Johann," Astrid said. "Watching Toothless ambush you gave me an idea for the Academy. Maybe you can help us when you get back." She got up and walked Stormfly out of the great hall.

I turned to Toothless, who was looking at me expectantly. He had an expression behind his eyes that told me he wanted to be airborne. "You ready, bud?" I asked him. He grunted and intensified his gaze. "You can't give me that look, Toothless," I said with a small laugh. I was too weak to handle it every time. I scratched him under his chin, listening to him murmur in comfort.

After a moment, I stood and guided Toothless out of the great hall. As we passed through the double doors, he bumped me in the right hip slightly with his head. Toothless didn't need to tell me twice. I removed the plate from the bottom of my peg and stowed it in a satchel I carried at my waist for just such a purpose. Climbed onto his back and hooked into the stirrup. Toothless jumped into the air without waiting for my command, just like every other time we went flying. As we rose higher into the cold air, I nudged him with my left knee. It was my signal to him saying I was controlling where we went for the flight.

"Okay, Toothless," I said with a deep breath. Thought for a little bit, wondering where Mulch and Bucket had found Trader Johann this morning. Most of the time, their fishing routes took them west, past the yak pastures. And I knew from my dad Johann's boat was stuck in an ice sheet. "Let's try west," I mused, looking left. Rolled out with my peg and leaned that way to help Toothless turn.

It didn't take long for us to reach the edge of Berk. And not an instant later, we were flying over the ocean. Although, this time, there was an ice sheet that seemed to extend to the horizon. I knew there were islands in this direction, but it would have been a long shot for this ice sheet to connect Berk and those islands. The air stung my face as we followed the ice sheet.

Within a few minutes, Toothless and I reached the fishing area Mulch and Bucket frequented. And several hundred yards in front of us was what looked like a boat. Probably Trader Johann's. The boat grew in size as we approached. I looked at it curiously, wondering how in the world he had gotten stuck here. The ice sheet was at least a foot thick, and yet Johann's boat had a small circle around it that was ice-free. His boat was still in the water; it just had no way of getting to any other water around. But strange things happen every day in this world, so I pushed wondering about the boat out of my mind.

"Toothless, land there," I said, pointing to an area of the ice sheet that looked stable enough to hold him. As we approached our little area, the air around us became noticeably colder. I guessed Johann must have been surprised by the ice locking him in and tried to free his boat by himself. Not a good idea, especially when the ice only was going to get thicker in the coming hours.

Toothless landed without any effort. Besides being frigid, the air felt very lonely. Berk was just barely in sight with an ice sheet that extended both ways from me and Toothless. I looked away from home and the sheet seemed to go on infinitely.

I looked down, checking to make sure the surface was ice and not snow. It was. Jumped off of Toothless's back and walked toward the circle of water around Johann's boat.

"Trader Johann?" I shouted. "Johann! Are you in there?" No reply. Only the waves lapping rhythmically at the ice sheet and the boat made any noise.

Johann's boat showed no signs of him having left. There was no plank connecting the boat to the ice sheet anywhere nearby. I checked as far as I could in either direction on the ice sheet, seeing only white. Granted, the circle of water around his boat was small enough to jump to and from the ice sheet anyway. I grabbed the side rail of the boat, ready to lift myself on board when I noticed it was frozen solid. The boat had probably been here at least overnight. I felt like the rescue I was supposed to do was gonna become a salvage.

Using my peg for traction against the ice-covered hull, I flopped on board with a groan and immediately wondered how in the world I was going to get off this boat. Without hurting myself. I stood, pushing that thought away for the moment, and looked at Toothless. He simply stared up at me, watching. Waiting.

Trader Johann's boat had two levels on it. There was the deck, which generally held items that weren't going to go anywhere in wind or rough water. Then there was the hold, which housed items that could easily be lost if the conditions were right. A quick glance around the deck revealed nothing. Johann usually had several barrels and crates full of different trinkets and knickknacks, and today was no different, except for a thin sheet of ice covering everything on deck. I shivered slightly as I made my way to the trap door leading to the hold. And predictably, it was frozen shut.

I grabbed a handle Johann used to open the door and pulled on it, but nothing opened. No crackling sound met my ears, which would have signaled progress due to the ice fracturing. I wasn't too worried about it though, not when Toothless was twenty feet away.

I walked to the side of the boat and found Toothless still in his spot, looking up at me. He blinked and grunted slightly as I came into view.

"Come up here, bud," I told him, motioning with my arms. Without hesitation, Toothless hunkered down and jumped. Two wing beats later, he landed with a hollow _ka-thump_ on the deck, making the boat rock slightly. The hull bumped into the ice sheet with a faint grinding noise, and the water protested vigorously for a few seconds.

I rubbed the top of Toothless's head, listening to him murmur. My way of saying thanks to him. Led him to the trap door and pointed to the seam with my left index finger. I made eye contact with him, telling him to melt the ice.

Toothless groaned slightly, like he was thinking. He sidled up to where my hand was and looked closely at it. Took a deep breath. I removed my hand just before a stream of white fire came out of his mouth. I pointed a little to his right so that he could see where I wanted him to melt the ice. He followed slowly, knowing what would happen if he tried to chase my hand. I had been burned twice by that stream of fire he could create, and if nothing else, I had found out it was incredibly painful.

Toothless followed my hand, staying several inches behind as we finished one side of the trap door. Thankfully, it didn't take long for me to teach him how to follow me instead of chase. Probably four or five months ago, when the weather was much more agreeable, I made him follow my hand like what he was doing now, using the edge of his rock he slept on as a guide. What really impressed me was how quickly and eagerly he picked up this little skill.

I pointed to a new section of ice for Toothless to melt. He repositioned himself and began just like a few moments ago. I knew not to go too fast because he'd chase my hand, rather than follow it.

"You did great, bud," I said to him with a quick hug after we finished tracing around the trap door. Toothless whuffed appreciatively.

Grabbing the handle once more, I pulled, opening the door with minimal effort. I simply loved how useful dragons could be when we showed the patience and friendship they deserved.

I swung the trap door open, where it caught using two chains on either side. The chains were sheathed in ice, just like everything else, but the friction broke most of the frozen layer, creating a small rain of ice into the hold.

Inside the hold, it was completely dark, save for the light filtering in from above. I was pretty sure we had enough time left to get Johann out of his boat and back to Berk, considering Toothless and I just had breakfast not an hour ago.

I looked into the hold and asked, "Johann?" Still no answer. There were ten wooden slats acting as steps leading down into the hold. And the top step had a glisten to it, meaning the hold was probably just as frozen as the deck. Great. Taking a deep breath, I took the steps one at a time, using my peg for traction. The ice crackled under my peg, thanks to the small bumps I had made in it for gripping slick surfaces. It was very convenient for times like this.

I was looking forward as I reached the bottom step, trying to notice anything. I glanced downward to make sure my final step would land at the bottom of the hold. And gasped, pulling in a sharply painful breath of freezing air.

It was Johann. He was curled in a ball at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes open but glassy. Where his skin was showing, it was a light blue. His hands were curled around his knees, and on the back of his left hand, I noticed a small puncture mark that had stopped bleeding some time ago. Like he had been stuck with the tip of a dagger. "Johann!" He didn't move. "Johann, please tell me you can hear me!" I shouted. No response.

From out of nowhere came a high-pitched snarl. It sounded like it came from inside the boat, not twenty feet from me. My blood chilled, which I thought was impossible considering the frigid weather.

"Oh, gods," I whispered. Just before I turned around to stagger back up the stairs, a pair of red eyes with slits for pupils revealed themselves from the darkness. It looked like a dragon, but I had no idea what kind it was. Never saw anything like this before. It was roughly six feet tall, bipedal with green skin. Its arms were short compared to its body, but its legs appeared to be very strong, like it was a keen runner and jumper. On top of its head was a green frill. And just barely visible on its back were a pair of what looked like vestigial wings. Probably a flightless dragon, which supported my guess about it being a runner.

The dragon gave a high-pitched roar that echoed within the hold and leaped forward, bringing its entire body into the light. It showed off its long, sharp teeth, and I noticed a red tip on its tail, like a poker we used for fires. It jumped onto Johann's left calf and aggressively raked its leg toward his ankle in a threat display. The claws on its foot created deep red furrows in Johann's leg and tossed several drops of his blood onto the floor behind the dragon. I yelped and slipped trying to back up the stairs, but forgot they were completely frozen over. I quickly rolled over onto my front and scrambled back up to the deck on all fours. Slammed the trap door shut and lost my balance in panic, falling clumsily onto my side. The dragon cackled a few times from below and was silent after that. Toothless growled at the trap door for a few seconds, probably telling whatever was down there to leave us alone.

I was breathing heavily, trying to get my heart rate back to normal. My breath was making large plumes of steam every second or so, but I didn't notice the cold. Toothless crept up to me and nudged my shoulder gently with his snout. I jumped slightly at his touch, still on-edge from the encounter with whatever kind of dragon that was. Definitely something that was irritated with me intruding on its territory.

"O-okay, bud," I stammered. Rolled onto all fours and haltingly stood up. An idea took form in my mind as I calmed down somewhat. I committed to it, thinking I was either insane or stupid for doing this. But if by some minute chance Trader Johann was still alive, he needed shelter that was better than a boat with a territorial monster that could quickly eviscerate him. And he needed that shelter _now_. I had no time to go back to Berk for reinforcements. Johann was probably bleeding profusely through his leg. Leaving him for Astrid or my dad would spell his death from blood loss.

I groaned quietly, knowing the only solution was to somehow get rid of the dragon. Toothless couldn't fit into the hold, so I had to draw that dragon out of hiding. But bringing it into the light meant Johann was in the way of a fireball. I said a quick prayer to the gods, asking for Toothless not to miss if he had to use his fire.

"Battle ready," I said quietly to Toothless. I pointed at the trap door. He hunkered slightly and glared at the door like he could see through it. Ready.

I grabbed the handle of the door and lifted, opening it again. A shaft of light filtered into the hold, where the dragon was still standing guard near Johann. _Too risky_, I thought. I had to get the dragon away from Johann.

Once the light illuminated the dragon, it turned toward us and snarled, telling us to go away. Toothless returned its message by intensifying his glare and growling at the dragon.

I watched as the smaller dragon glared back at Toothless, but quieted somewhat. I wasn't sure if it was the cold or just the feeling of tension in the air, but something didn't feel right. Somehow, I knew Toothless hadn't intimidated that dragon into retreating. I saw the dragon tense slightly, like it was going to attack someone or something.

I knew I had to be ready for this. If the dragon began running up the stairs to attack Toothless, I had to get Toothless to fire a plasma blast immediately. So I kept my eyes on the dragon, waiting for it to attack.

But it didn't happen at all. Toothless and the other dragon simply glared at each other, growling. Time to take the initiative. Not only because I was gonna fall asleep and not be ready for an attack, but also because Johann was dying as we sat here.

I moved my left hand slowly toward the satchel at my waist and opened it. Pulled out the plate I used for my peg. I tried to keep it hidden from the dragon so I could have the element of surprise. Pulled in a quick breath and tossed the plate into the hold.

The dragon quickly reacted to the new object flying past its head and to its left. It immediately darted toward the plate. I watched as it whipped its tail around and stabbed cleanly through the plate with nothing but clean and brutal efficiency.

"PLASMA BLAST!" I shouted, looking into the hold.

Without hesitating, I heard a loud grunt come from Toothless as the hold lit up in bright blue. The fireball illuminated every texture that had been covered by ice on the boat and then disappeared with a loud, hollow explosion. The dragon flew backwards and slammed into the wall with a shriek and slumped motionlessly on the floor. Its neck was twisted more than halfway around, and its right side was now a gaping hole of blood and bone. Its eyes were still open, but they had no life in them. We had killed this dragon. Just like when it killed my snow plate, Toothless showed the same clean, brutal and uncaring efficiency.

Upon seeing the dead dragon, I remembered a promise I had made to myself a year and a half ago. When I found Toothless in the forest after shooting him down. The way he looked at me was too powerful for me to handle. After seeing his look, I promised myself I would never, ever kill a dragon, even if it threatened me with my life. And here I was today, staring at a dragon I had told Toothless to kill.

Was it in cold blood? Probably. Was there a reason? Definitely. Johann would have died if I hadn't taken action like that. I stood there in shock, finally realizing I had broken my promise to myself.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't care that I was having a crisis of conscience. The sky opened slightly, letting snow fall to the earth. As several snowflakes broke my attention, I knew we had to get Johann to Berk soon. The flurry that started only seconds ago was going to become a blizzard within an hour. And Johann was still bleeding in front of us.


	2. Chapter 2

Inside the hold, Trader Johann hadn't moved a bit throughout our little skirmish. He didn't even react when that dragon raked its leg down his calf. And the dragon was still motionless. I was certain it was dead.

I haltingly stepped down into the hold and looked at Johann's predicament. He was still curled into a ball, his skin was still tinged blue, and his left calf was still bleeding. Every second or so, a small trickle of blood oozed out of the three open gashes in his leg. It was a rhythmic pulse, which told me Johann was alive. Somehow. Through a miracle of sorts. I sighed, knowing I needed a miracle of my own just to get him back to Berk.

Just to make sure, I briefly looked at the dragon. No movement. Toothless looked into the hold and moaned softly. I glanced up at him, seeing the worry behind his eyes. He knew this situation was as dire as it looked. Taking a deep breath, I walked around to Johann's leg. This was what concerned me the most. I guessed it took me and Toothless about fifteen minutes to get here, which was probably ten minutes too long for Trader Johann. The river of blood coming out of his right calf showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, not when the gashes were that deep.

I glanced around the hold, wondering if there was any object I could use to staunch the bleeding. Nothing caught my attention quickly, and I didn't want to wander around the hold when Johann could die at any minute.

My left hand found my hip and settled on my belt. I didn't even realize what I had done until I looked down. Somehow, my mind was telling me the solution was here all along. I whipped my belt off, thankful my trousers fit well enough to keep any mishaps from occurring. Wrapped the belt just below Johann's left knee and cinched it, tying a square knot to keep the belt from unraveling. I checked Johann's calf and noticed the blood flow was much weaker than a few seconds ago.

I had abated the bleeding. So what? I knew if I didn't hurry, Johann would either die from cold or lose a leg. I grumbled in frustration as I walked around to Johann's back. I had to get him back to Berk quickly and without any snags, or else I would somehow be responsible for his death.

"Let's just get this done," I mumbled.

I looped my left arm underneath his own and worked my right hand underneath his right shoulder. I knew better than to bend over and use my back to lift him, so I squatted and held for a beat. Using my legs, I stood, which lifted Johann like he was a rag doll. Amazing what you can do with the correct technique.

I adjusted my right hand so it was underneath his right arm. Clasped my hands together and began walking backward. I took the steps one at a time, making sure to gain footing with my peg before I moved. Johann's leg created a red trail of blood up the stairs as I dragged him with me. Each time I got up one step, his boots clunked against a step further below.

I pulled Johann into the cold air, which was further chilled by a blustery wind and much thicker snow than just a few minutes prior. We had to hurry, or else returning to Berk was going to rely too much on luck.

I looked at Toothless, who acted generally calm despite the worried look behind his eyes. I wondered how in the world I was gonna get Johann onto Toothless's back. There probably wasn't a good solution to this, so I went with the first idea that came to my mind. I looped my hands around his midsection and squatted again. Lifted and almost threw him across the back of Toothless's neck, Johann flopping chest-down. There was no other place for him. Behind the saddle, and Toothless would be restricted in his wing movement. Along Toothless's spine? He'd plunge into the ocean about as quickly as Toothless could shoot a fireball. Have Toothless hold him with his claws? I couldn't take that chance, hoping his clothes would stay intact. Johann couldn't move anyway, so how would Toothless land without hurting him?

I sighed as I got onto the saddle and adjusted Johann to make sure he wouldn't slide off. Reached over him and stroked Toothless near the back of his head. "Okay, buddy. Take it slow," I told him. To make sure he got the point, I hooked in slowly with my peg.

Toothless seemed to figure it out, because he lifted from Johann's boat gently and began cruising toward Berk, rather than flying. The entire time, I kept one hand on Johann's belt and another on the saddle. But it felt like I didn't even need to worry about Johann, thanks to Toothless's expert flying.

Toothless landed in the middle of the plaza for everyone to see…well, everyone who was brave enough to face the bone-chilling cold, that is. Both my hands were frozen shut due to the cold. I slowly worked some movement into them, just enough to let go of Johann's belt and the iron bar on the saddle. Unhooked with my peg and cautiously slid off of Toothless's back.

Gobber was the first person to reach us. "Looks like you caught more than just fish," he observed.

As I hit the ground, my trousers slipped a little, taking my pants with them. I quickly brought my hands to my waist and cinched the pants and trousers back up. Turned to Gobber like nothing had happened and said, "Johann needs help."

"Is he frozen?" Gobber asked.

I took a deep breath and said, "And bleeding too." Gobber's expression immediately clouded over.

You could always count on Gobber to be light-hearted. Sometimes, it was too much or at the wrong time. But when someone who lived on Berk or one of our allies was in danger, Gobber turned into a no-nonsense person.

Gobber took a closer look at Johann and must have spied my belt wrapped around his leg. His eyes went wide, and then he quickly said, "Bandages and seaweed. Now."

I was already on my way to the forge where we had a large stock of those items. By the time I got back to Gobber and Toothless with what I thought was too much gear, Johann was already on the snow-covered ground, lying on his back.

"Hiccup, what are you waiting for!?" he shouted. I was already speed-walking toward him, but it wasn't fast enough. I handed him the soft leather and seaweed. He took it from me without looking or saying anything.

Gobber worked Johann's boot off his left foot and pulled his pant leg up. The three gashes that dragon had left in his leg looked even worse now that they were in full view. He untied my belt from Johann's leg, making the gashes ooze with blood again. Gobber cursed under his breath as he slapped the seaweed onto Johann's leg and wrapped it with the bandages. From taking the belt off Johann's leg to wrapping it, I guessed it took Gobber about twenty seconds.

"Is that Johann?" my dad asked as he walked toward the crowd around us. I shuffled over to Gobber's side and picked up my belt. Put it back on and felt much more secure about my pants.

Gobber picked up Johann like he was a rag doll and carried him toward his house. He nodded at my dad, silently answering his question before entering his house, hopefully to help Johann recover.

My dad quickly turned his attention to me and asked, "What happened?"

Every bit of attention that was directed at Johann suddenly became a crushing weight. I knew I wasn't in any trouble, at least I _hoped_ I wasn't. But I still hated being the center of attention like this, especially when the attention was unexpectedly heaped upon me.

"Uh," I started, hoping my mind would start working within the next two seconds. "Trader Johann…was trapped in…in his boat," I stammered. My mind was working, because I wanted to tell them about how everything was frozen. About how Johann was seemingly paralyzed. And about how there was a dragon I had never seen trapped with him. But the connection between my mind and mouth was almost nonexistent.

"Why was he bleeding?" my dad asked. He pointed out the red stain left by Johann, which contrasted the white from the snow.

"I…uh…adragonearlykilledhim," I said way too quickly.

"What?" my dad said.

I pulled in a breath that stung the inside of my chest. "Johann was trapped inside his boat with a dragon that almost killed him," I said at a snail's pace.

"Is that why his leg was bleeding?" my dad probed. I nodded without saying a word, fearful that connection between my mind and mouth would be gone again.

"What did it look like?" Fishlegs asked from somewhere in the crowd. He slowly walked toward us.

I turned slightly toward him, trying to remember as much as I could about it. "Green…stood on two legs…red eyes…no wings…sharp tail...," I said before trailing off.

"And you said there was just _one_?" he asked pointedly. There was a hint of emergency in his tone. It seemed like Fishlegs knew exactly what was going on, and it didn't sound good. I nodded again. "That can't be right," he said after a short silence.

"What do you mean?" my dad asked him. The crushing weight that was suffocating me felt like it was removed almost instantly.

"I think Hiccup saw a Speed Stinger," Fishlegs said. Calmly. Under the same pressure I had experienced. I felt jealous of him for a brief moment. He was totally collected.

My dad was silent, which was Fishlegs's cue to continue. "Uh," he said, collecting his thoughts. "Speed Stingers move in large groups. Hiccup either saw a scout or a rogue dragon. And if it was a scout, that means there will be more coming."

"_Here_?" my dad asked almost immediately.

"Yes," I said before Fishlegs could answer. The crushing weight re-settled on my shoulders, but this time I didn't feel so trapped. "There's an ice sheet that connects Johann's boat to Berk. And it goes on after his boat."

"What do we do?" Fishlegs asked meekly.

I thought his question was unneeded, considering Fishlegs knew more about dragons than pretty much anyone on Berk. But to make sure everyone knew, I answered it anyway. "Break the ice sheet before the Speed Stingers get here."

"And just how are you going to do that?" my dad asked.

"Dragons," I said without missing a beat. I left my answer at that because I thought people could connect the dots from there. A low murmur circulated through the crowd, telling me people had generally figured it out.

"Can you get Toothless to break it?" my dad said.

"I don't think so." I knew Toothless didn't have enough sustained firepower to break through a foot of ice. He could probably shatter sections of it, but it would take a ridiculous number of fireballs to create a rift that was large enough to keep the Speed Stingers away. And that brought in a problem I had only seen once with Toothless: his shot limit. We needed to get rid of a large section of ice quickly. And I knew of only one dragon we could use. "Hookfang would be a better choice," I concluded.

And I was ready for the backlash. Snotlout would never be able to figure out why in Thor's name I wanted to melt some ice. With him, preemptively addressing a problem didn't make sense.

Before anyone could say or do anything, Astrid said, "Well, let's get Snotlout now. While we still have time." She strode out of the crowd, Fishlegs not far behind.

"C'mon, buddy," I said to Toothless. He grunted as he began following me. We were about twenty paces behind Astrid and Fishlegs when they reached Snotlout's house. I saw Astrid knock at his door, and about five seconds later, Snotlout appeared.

"…Melt the ice," Astrid concluded as I got within earshot of her.

Snotlout looked at her, then switched his gaze to Fishlegs, then to me and Toothless. He grinned. "Wait, so let me see if I understand this. You're asking for _my_ help? None of your dragons can do this?"

"Yep," I said quickly. "Unless, of course, you want to wait for any problems to show up." Snotlout looked at me quizzically, so I continued. "Sure, you can wait. And then once everyone here is paralyzed or dead, you can think about how it would have taken you and Hookfang five minutes to keep everyone safe. How you chose to be self-centered instead of actually contributing."

"All right! Stop! I get it!" Snotlout shouted. "Gods, you don't have to go so far…"

"Actually," Fishlegs said. "He's not exaggerating."

"Snotlout, the longer you wait here, the closer those dragons get to Berk," my dad said from behind me and Toothless. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing my dad could get anyone on board with him.

Snotlout glared at us for a beat, then closed his door behind him. "I guess I'll help. But you had better be waiting with something good for me when I'm finished," he said threateningly.

"Get rid of the ice or Hookfang is gone," my dad replied.

All of the color that was left in Snotlout's face vanished in an instant. I knew he and Hookfang weren't as close as me and Toothless, but he still liked being around his dragon. "Got it," Snotlout said quietly. He began trudging through the snow to fetch Hookfang, who was just barely visible, hiding behind Snotlout's house.

Hookfang generally stayed in this area. He was just barely too big to fit through a doorway. And just like any dragon that could breathe fire, the cold didn't seem to bother him at all. I watched as Snotlout disappeared and Hookfang stirred. He stretched and let Snotlout get on his neck.

I hopped onto Toothless's back and clicked into the stirrup. He took off just as I nudged him with my left knee. I directed Toothless back toward Johann's boat, but stopped his flight a few hundred feet off the western coast of Berk. Snotlout landed with Hookfang near us. Astrid and Stormfly arrived maybe twenty seconds later.

"Your dad asked me to make sure Snotlout does this right," Astrid told us with a hint of a threat behind her voice. Snotlout grimaced slightly, knowing my dad would hold his promise if he didn't cooperate.

"Just hurry up. It's cold here," Snotlout complained.

For once, I agreed with him. I wanted to hurry, not only because it was cold, but the snow shower that surrounded Johann's boat was moving in our direction. I looked further west, but all I saw was a grey wall, which meant the snow was going to get thicker in the coming minutes.

"All right," I started. "This section looks like it's the narrowest part of the ice sheet," I said motioning to my right. "I think a thirty-foot gap will be enough to stop the Speed Stingers from reaching Berk."

"Make it fifty," Astrid said. "Don't take any chances."

"That's it!?" Snotlout asked. "Hookfang could make a hundred-foot gap!"

"Show me," I said daringly.

Snotlout grinned, knowing he had an opportunity to flaunt Hookfang's prowess. He said something to Hookfang that I couldn't hear, and a second later he and his dragon were airborne. I watched as Hookfang canted to his right, U-turned and swept in low toward the ice sheet. At the last instant, he leveled out and shot a stream of lava that contacted the ice and hissed as it tore through and met the water. Hookfang U-turned again and swept in from the other side with another salvo.

Somehow, Snotlout was able to read my mind, because he didn't need any correcting on how to actually create a gap in the ice sheet.

After five passes, Snotlout and Hookfang landed on the other side of the newly-formed water channel. "HOW'S THIS!?" Snotlout shouted to us.

Astrid laughed. I buried my face in my left hand before motioning Snotlout and Hookfang to come back to us. Hookfang jumped into the air and flew over to us, skidding to a halt on the Berk side of the channel.

"I think it's perfect," I said, answering Snotlout's question.

"Well, because I did such an excellent job, I think I deserve a reward." He looked at Astrid flirtatiously.

"Aaand on that note, I think it's too cold for me to stay out here," Astrid said, barely hiding her disgust. She and Stormfly left without another word. Snotlout's shoulders slumped a little as Toothless and I left, heading back to Berk.

I spotted Astrid and Stormfly near her house and instructed Toothless to land there. He did, barely making a sound with his feet, thanks to the snow collected in Berk. His wings made a miniature blizzard that lasted for a few seconds before things settled, revealing Astrid with a fine coating of white powder. I unhooked from the stirrup and slid off Toothless's back. He wasted no time in romping toward Stormfly, looking for a playmate. I let him go, knowing they wouldn't wander too far away.

"That was easy," I observed, turning my attention from Toothless toward Astrid.

"Easy to get Snotlout to help or easy to stop whatever those dragons were?"

"Both," I replied.

At that moment, Toothless and Stormfly were in the middle of some kind of chase game. Toothless bounded toward me with several short grunts and whipped to his right, showering me and Astrid in snow. He continued bounding away from us as Stormfly chased him in the general direction of Astrid's house.

"Should we separate them?" Astrid asked. She sounded totally unconcerned that we had just been covered in snow, which was going to make the cold seem that much worse.

"Nah. Those two are a riot together," I said.

Toothless and Stormfly made a lap and were heading in our direction again. I stood rooted to my spot as Toothless bounded toward me and stopped just short of where I was standing with another grunt. He looked at me for a brief second, then swiped his tongue quickly up my chest and face before continuing his little game with Stormfly. Toothless had licked me enough that I wasn't too concerned about it anymore, although the air around me smelled like fish for a while afterward. I smiled and watched the snow flew out from underneath the dragons' feet as they created their mischief around us. I used the sleeve on my coat to wipe Toothless's saliva off my face.

"They _are_ pretty crazy together," Astrid told me.

As the snowfall intensified, the air around us seemed to turn painfully cold, which was our signal to get indoors. I looked around, noticing Snotlout wasn't his usual persistent self. Normally, he would have spent a good ten minutes trying to get a kiss from Astrid before giving up. But this time, after Astrid rebuffed him, he simply brought Hookfang back to his house and didn't bother Astrid after that.

Toothless skidded to a halt near me, panting from his game of chase with Stormfly, who nudged Astrid in the shoulder. Both our dragons seemed to have used up most of their energy. I knew Toothless was gonna sleep well tonight.

"Care to join us?" Astrid asked me as she turned toward her house.

"Yeah, I could do that," I replied. I began shuffling through the snow, grumbling about how I lost the plate I had made to that Speed Stinger earlier today. Toothless simply loped by my side, leading me into Astrid's house. I walked in, and Astrid closed the door behind her. Toothless lay down near the table in Astrid's house, about ten feet away from Stormfly.

"Where's your aunt?" I asked.

"Great hall. She's on cooking and cleaning duty for the week."

I nodded in understanding. Everyone had to spend a few days a year in the great hall, looking after our food supply.

"Hey, uh, can I tell you something?" I asked meekly.

"Sure."

"I, uh, I killed a dragon today. It was the Speed Stinger."

"I'm sure there was a reason for it," Astrid said as she sat down at her table. I followed her lead. "You're not the kind of Viking who will just kill a dragon for no reason." I knew she was referring to Dagur, who I didn't want to think about for the moment.

"I…I guess. Well, the dragon had already clawed into Johann's leg and wouldn't let me or Toothless near him."

"So you killed it to keep it from hurting anyone else. Or killing Johann," she inferred.

I nodded. "I got it away from Johann with a distraction and had Toothless shoot it with a fireball."

"All right, so what are you getting at?" she probed.

I paused for a moment, looking nowhere. Didn't have an answer. "I don't know," I finally said. "Maybe it was because Toothless did what I asked him without question. He killed the Speed Stinger like it was nothing to him."

Astrid shrugged a little. "Don't forget Toothless is still a dragon. There's no right or wrong to him, as long as he knows you're safe."

I sighed as I put my forehead into my left hand. Grabbed onto my hair with my fingers. "I just…I feel horrible that I broke a promise I made to myself when I first shot Toothless down. I found him in the forest, and the way he looked at me made me feel sorry for him. I promised I wouldn't kill a dragon after that."

"Nice try," she said with a wry grin. "You broke that promise a week later when you and Toothless killed the Red Death."

"Yeah, but that was different," I said, trying to somehow exclude that horrendous encounter from my morals. "I _had_ to do something or there wouldn't be a Berk today."

"And you _had_ to do something about the Speed Stinger, or Johann wouldn't be here now," she countered.

I sighed again, knowing my little argument had been deflated.

"Hiccup, just get over it," she said bluntly. "You did what you had to. There was no time to do anything else. You brought Johann back safely, and you're still Toothless's favorite person."

That wasn't what I wanted to hear. But it was what I _needed_ to hear. I wasn't afraid of letting Astrid know my thoughts, and I had somehow gotten used to her simply telling me to get over myself. She had probably a thousand different ways to say it, but she somehow knew exactly what to say when I was in one of these moods.

Toothless broke the bubble I was trapped in with a long, slow sigh, trying to get some sleep. I watched as a plume of steam condensed in front of him.

I stood from my seat and walked toward Astrid's door. Opened it slightly to find a white wall of snow pummeling Berk. The sky was almost completely dark from the clouds and short day. "Would you mind if Toothless and I stayed here until the blizzard is gone?" I asked from in front of the door as I closed it.

"Stay as long as you need," she replied.

"Thanks," I said. I sat down on the floor next to Toothless, who was mostly asleep by now. He and Stormfly had worn themselves out playing in the snow today. I stroked his cheek gently. After a moment, he sighed in contentment. I relaxed slightly, knowing we were safe. And Trader Johann was on the mend. It was all in a day's work for a Viking.


	3. Chapter 3

Astrid and I were having a conversation about nothing as the snowstorm raged on outside her house. Each time one of us said something, a white plume of steam came out of our mouths. Astrid had a fire roaring in the hearth, but it didn't seem to make a difference, considering the cold that was trying to get indoors. We must have crossed from devastating winter to lethal winter sometime within the last few hours.

Toothless was curled up next to Stormfly about fifteen feet away from the hearth. Astrid and I were lying on the floor, propped up and facing the hearth using our dragons' sides as cushions. I loved how calm Toothless was right now, and I was willing to bet Astrid could have said the same thing about Stormfly. I felt totally relaxed as Toothless breathed a steady rhythm from just behind me. Glanced at his head and saw his eyes were closed. I didn't think he was truly asleep because his breathing wasn't deep enough. But it didn't matter to me. He seemed comfortable simply lying on the floor.

I knew being around dragons was magical, and every day I tried to remind myself that I was grateful for it. But now, there was no magic. Simply because we didn't need it. I had my best friends near me, and that made the moment perfect. Around Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly, the weather outside didn't seem quite as frigid.

There was a quiet knock on Astrid's door. It was quickly followed by the door opening. Toothless and Stormfly simultaneously opened their eyes to check on what was entering the house. I turned toward the door to find my dad standing just outside. He stepped in calmly as he shut the door behind him and shuddered from the cold. I realized he must have been wondering about me. Oops.

"Oh, uh…Hi, Dad," I stuttered.

"I'm glad you found shelter, son," he said. He didn't seem to be very upset about my supposed truancy.

"S-sorry. I didn't think to let you know," I said quietly.

"You're safe. That's all that matters right now." He quietly adjusted a chair near Astrid's table and sat down. Brushed a collection of snow out of his beard. "Can you tell me what happened to Trader Johann?" he asked.

I knew I should have felt that crushing weight again, but my dad asked the question using a surprisingly gentle tone. Either that, or I felt like Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly had my back for this. For once, I felt like I was an equal when conversing with my dad.

"Is…is he gonna be okay?" I asked.

"Gobber thinks so. He's still breathing, but he can't move otherwise. Gobber and I were wondering if you saw anything happen to him."

"Uh," I started. "I didn't see what caused him to become paralyzed. But I think it was the dragon, that…um…Speed Stinger," I said, barely remembering what Fishlegs had called it earlier.

"Johann has a puncture mark on the back of his left hand, and his left calf was gouged. Which one happened first?" my dad asked.

"The puncture wound," I said quickly. "That was already there when I opened the trap door in his boat. Johann was curled into a ball on the floor when I first saw him."

"He wasn't moving?"

I shook my head. "I tried to ask if he was okay, and that was when the dragon jumped out of the shadows and gashed his leg."

"Where's the dragon?" he asked.

"Uh," I said as my stomach lurched. Apparently, I still hadn't gotten over playing an active role in killing a dragon. "We…killed it," I said quietly.

"Who's 'we'?"

"Me and Toothless," I said, almost whispering it, as if keeping my voice down would make killing that dragon seem less traumatic.

I heard Astrid sigh audibly. "Hiccup, it'll be fine," she said. There was a hint of irritation under her voice.

"What is he worried about?" my dad asked, turning his attention to Astrid.

"Hiccup isn't comfortable admitting he killed a dragon," she said bluntly. Before anyone could say anything, she added, "Even though it was probably the only way he and Toothless were gonna bring Johann to Berk."

My dad sat there in silence. The wind picked up outside, whistling as it blew through the village. After a few seconds, my dad said, "I know you care about dragons, but sometimes there's nothing else you can do. You'll have to make tough decisions like this every so often." The house was silent again. I still felt like there was something else I could have done to keep from killing that Speed Stinger.

One of the logs in the fire popped suddenly, making all five of us jump a little. Toothless whuffed in irritation at the hearth. I stroked his cheek, trying to get him to calm down. I knew it wouldn't take long, and besides, I didn't want something random like this to ruin the feeling of peace we had in this house.

Just like normal, Toothless closed his eyes and sighed almost immediately as he leaned into my hand slightly. I didn't say a word because there really wasn't anything to say. I just wanted Toothless to know I was here for him, just like he was for me.

I relaxed again, leaning against Toothless's side and stared at the hearth. The log that popped not a minute ago collapsed into two pieces and tumbled to the sides of the fire, sending embers spinning through the air. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toothless watch the small red dots with fascination before they disappeared. I grinned, knowing the peaceful feeling had returned.

"How did you get Johann to Berk?" my dad asked quietly.

"Very carefully," I responded with a hint of sarcasm. But before anyone could say anything back, I continued, turning again to face my dad. "I threw Johann across Toothless's back and made him fly slowly."

"What about the Speed Stinger?" Astrid asked.

"What about it?" I repeated, looking at her.

"Where is it?"

"Still on Johann's boat," I said. "The blizzard was already starting by the time Toothless and I got Johann off his boat. So we left it there."

Astrid nodded slightly in understanding. After a moment she said, "What if it was a scout, like Fishlegs thought? When the rest of its…" She paused for a second, trying to find the right word. "Pack, I guess, finds it, do you…"

I cut her off. "I don't want to think about that right now." She was silent after that. For about a minute, the only sounds in Astrid's house were the fire crackling and our dragons breathing steadily. I relaxed as I took root against Toothless's side. For just a few minutes, I didn't want to have a worry in the world.

Toothless's head shot up suddenly, preventing my wish from being granted. I felt his side tense as he growled softly at the wall about twenty feet away from us. His growl was a lot deeper than I generally heard from him. I felt the mood in Astrid's house change from relaxed and peaceful to cold and tense.

A pair of footsteps stomped onto Astrid's stoop just before there was a pound on her door. Not a second later, Astrid's door flew open, revealing Gobber with a panicked expression on his face. Toothless leapt to his feet just as I caught myself from colliding with the ground.

"Stoick! There's something happening on the ice sheet!"

"What is it?" my dad asked as he stood from the table and walked toward Gobber.

"Are there a bunch of dragons standing on the other side of the rift we made today?" I asked without thinking.

"How did you know that?" Gobber asked back. He had a thoroughly confused look on his face, like I had somehow become clairvoyant.

I looked at Astrid and mimed a sigh of relief. Stood. "Can Toothless and I join?" My dad nodded without looking back at us. I heard Stormfly warble softly, telling me she and Astrid were coming as well.

We followed Gobber into the cold. The snow, wind and drab sky made the air in front of us appear dark grey. The wind was fierce enough to make my eyes sting as we made our way to the yak pasture. Luckily, someone had thought ahead of the storm and herded our livestock into their pens for the night.

We stopped at a cliff overlooking the ice sheet that extended beyond Trader Johann's boat. "There!" Gobber shouted at us through the wind. He pointed at the gap Snotlout and Hookfang had created earlier in the day. And on the other side, we caught glimpses of a large herd of what looked to be Speed Stingers.

I heard Toothless growl from behind me. For some reason, I didn't want those dragons to know about anything we had here on Berk. I quickly turned and made eye contact with Toothless, brushing the top of his snout with my right hand. His eyes focused on me, and his growling subsided.

"Well, looks like Snotlout pulled his weight for once," Astrid observed mockingly.

Through the cold air, a series of loud, short grunts met our ears. Toothless broke our little staring contest and quickly roared back, nearly deafening me. I staggered out of his line of sight, trying to get my ears to stop ringing. _Why won't he warn me about that?_ I wondered.

"I think Toothless said something they didn't like!" Gobber shouted. It sounded like he was a mile away when he said that.

"They turned around!" Astrid said, narrating the events unfolding for me. I was still in shock from Toothless bellowing at those dragons, but I guessed a little discomfort was better than the alternative we were facing.

I finally looked at the ice sheet and found the gap without too much trouble. And the other side of it was empty. Not a single Speed Stinger. Thank goodness, too. The experience Toothless and I had with that lone dragon in Johann's boat was crazy enough.

I had a nagging feeling in my gut, though, telling me we weren't finished with the Speed Stingers. I checked around the gap, which was becoming less visible by the minute. I was looking for any way that the Speed Stingers could reach Berk, such as any ice floes close enough to the rift. The Speed Stingers might not have been able to fly, but they probably could jump without too much trouble. I didn't see any sheets making their way toward the gap, but that didn't mean they weren't there. There was almost no light left in the afternoon, which was made even further apparent when I turned around and could barely see the houses across the yak pasture.

"C'mon, buddy," I said to Toothless. I hopped on his back without clicking my peg into the stirrup because he would have a much easier time than me navigating the snow drifts. "Let's go home," I told him. As he began plodding through the snow, I looked back at Astrid and gave her a nonverbal signal, telling her she was welcome to join me. It didn't seem right that her aunt was on kitchen duty at the great hall, leaving Astrid by herself for most of the week. I saw Astrid shrug and begin guiding Stormfly in our direction.

Toothless and I reached our stoop as I dismounted and walked with my dragon toward the door. I opened the door to find Thornado resting near the hearth. He glanced at me and Toothless as we walked in. It seemed there was almost nothing that fazed him.

I heard a soft warble just behind me and Toothless. Turned around to find Astrid leading Stormfly inside with my dad just behind them. I watched as she let Stormfly navigate toward the hearth and plop down about ten feet away from Thornado.

Without warning, I felt a sudden presence on my left side. Before I could turn to see what was going on, Astrid planted a kiss on my cheek. "You're too kind," she said with a wry grin. And walked her way toward Stormfly as if nothing happened. Like always, I stood there in mild shock for a few seconds.

I heard Toothless grunt from my right and looked at him. He glanced at Astrid and then back to me. "What are you looking at?" I asked him. He grunted again, teasing me. I stole a quick glance at Astrid and saw the same grin on her face. I rolled my eyes and walked to our table. Sat down. Toothless slowly followed me and lay down between me and Thornado. And sighed. I watched as a plume of steam came out of his snout.

"D'you think those Speed Stingers will try to come back?" I asked after a few silent minutes.

Astrid shrugged. "I don't know. Seems like Toothless did a great job scaring them off."

I rubbed my left palm into my forehead and shut my eyes. For anyone who knew me, this was always a sign that I felt uneasy. "I just…I really don't feel right about this," I confessed. "Something tells me those dragons aren't going to simply leave us alone."

"All right, then," Astrid said. "Let's play your little game. What do we do?"

I tried to stifle a laugh. Turned it into a fake cough that was way too obvious. "Astrid, you _do_ realize you're considering my opinion, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Don't you think that's a little odd, listening to what I have to say? Really, shouldn't you be ignoring me?"

"I don't think so. Look at how many times you've been right about something just by thinking ahead."

"I don't know," I mumbled. "I really just feel like I'm rambling with no purpose."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Hiccup." She paused for a moment. "Okay, so what if the Speed Stingers don't come back, but we are ready for them? What happens?" she asked, letting the question hang in the air.

"Nothing," I said after a little bit of thought.

"Exactly. Nothing. We continue with our lives, and that's it. So, what should we do _just in case_?"

I sighed. "I really think Fishlegs would help us," I said, still trying to dodge Astrid's probing.

"He's not here," she said flatly. "What would _you_ suggest?"

I thought for a moment. I only knew a little bit about these dragons: they can't fly, they're aggressive and probably territorial, and they travel in a pack. "Well," I started, trying to figure out their motives. "They move in a pack, so they probably have a leader. The dragon I saw earlier today seemed territorial when I moved toward Johann."

"All right," Astrid said, cutting me off. "We have a pack of dragons on the move, they're territorial, and they were probably out in the cold for a while today."

I blinked, realizing I had missed an obvious detail. Those dragons were willing to brave the cold for however long today, like they were trying to go somewhere. "If they were without shelter for that long, they must have been looking for something," I said, adding Astrid's observation to my own. "Probably looking for a source of food…" I trailed off. Dragons, just like any other animal, needed a food source. And if the Speed Stingers were territorial, that meant they'd guard any food source they found. My eyes brightened in realization, although I knew what I had inferred wasn't a good thing.

"So what did you come up with?" Astrid asked me.

"The Speed Stingers are on the move, looking for a new food source. And Toothless kinda let them know we had one here."

"How so?"

"Toothless roared back at them, like he was guarding his territory. But the Speed Stingers probably figured out his territory has food. So if they get rid of us, they have a new place to stay, at least until the food runs out."

Astrid sat there in silence, looking at me. A grin slowly worked its way across her face. "You know, the further you get into this, the worse it sounds for us."

I threw my hands into the air in defeat. "You asked. And I have no idea if I'm even right about this."

"Let's suppose you are. How do we keep the Speed Stingers away from our food?"

I shrugged. "Lock it in a place they can't reach. Don't give them a reason to live here."

Astrid was silent for a few seconds. "Don't you think we've already done that? We're Vikings in the middle of winter. It's not like we've got a massive surplus of food right now."

I nodded slowly, agreeing with her conclusion.

My dad walked toward us, surprising me. I knew he came in after Astrid and Stormfly, but this conversation had me completely preoccupied. "So you think we should check our food stores?" he asked.

I shrugged again. "I guess it couldn't hurt." I was still trying to downplay my ideas about the Speed Stingers.

"He means 'yes'," Astrid said to him.

My dad nodded and said, "I think that's a good plan." He paused, listening to the wind. A sudden gust had just picked up, howling through Berk. I watched as my dad walked toward the door and opened it slightly. From what I could tell, there was no visibility past about ten feet. He shut the door and turned back to us. "Looks like we'll be staying here for the night. We'll make sure everything is locked tomorrow." He shuffled back toward his bed.

It wasn't like we had a choice. The snowstorm had passed blizzard status and gone into whiteout. Walking outside in those conditions would have been disastrous, not only because we would have had no idea where we were going, but also because of the sheer cold. Night was upon us, and I knew the weather was only going to become colder.

I stood up, groaning from the effort. In the cold weather, my joints felt like they were starting to freeze. I grabbed three logs we had stowed near the hearth and placed them in the fire. They sizzled audibly as the flames ate through the ice that had built up on them.

After making sure the fire wouldn't extinguish itself, I tromped upstairs and grabbed the blanket and pillow off my bed. I was about to head downstairs when I realized I was only thinking about myself. I rolled my eyes in secret and grabbed a spare pillow and blanket. Brought them downstairs and gave Astrid the spare pillow and blanket.

"Thanks, Hiccup. You really _are_ too kind," she whispered. I smiled without saying anything.

I set my own pillow and blanket up so that I was propped against Toothless's side. I was pretty sure he would sleep down here tonight, mainly because he didn't like his rock during the winters. He hated the frost that built up on it during the night.

I covered myself with the blanket and leaned against Toothless's side, using him as a cushion. I felt him relax and sigh. And quickly drifted into sleep, feeling his gentle breathing and heart beat.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything was supposed to be okay. Toothless had apparently scared all the Speed Stingers away from Berk. But the sleep I was getting was fitful at best. I continually woke up, thinking I had heard a high-pitched skreel or a loud grunt.

The fire at the hearth was mostly embers because it was nearly out of fuel. I shivered, pulling away from Toothless's side. I heard him grunt softly and looked at him. He was awake just like I was. And he looked worried. Not about the Speed Stingers. Not about the cold. He was worried about me. Toothless never let his eyes drift anywhere other than me.

"H-hey, buddy," I whispered. I haltingly put my right hand on the side of his neck. I knew I was cold, but my hand was trembling too much to simply be cold. Toothless murmured gently, rubbing the right side of his snout against my shoulder. I took a deep breath and exhaled, watching the cloud of steam from my mouth as it dissipated. Stood. And walked over to our collection of firewood. I grabbed three logs and placed them on the sides of the fire. They had too much ice on them to burn for now. Placing them in the middle of the embers would surely mean the fire would extinguish itself. And on a cold, bitter night like this, we needed a fire to keep warm.

And then the problem resolved itself. I had Toothless with me. A dragon. Using the poking rod, which had also built up a layer of ice, I moved the logs toward the center of the hearth where they hissed slightly from the ice melting and then evaporating. And predictably, the orange color slowly disappeared.

"Toothless," I whispered, crouching near the hearth. He looked at me attentively. I pointed at the fresh logs, trying to get him to notice the fire was gone. We had been through this little inconvenience several times this winter, so I was pretty sure Toothless knew what to do. He groaned as he shuffled over to the hearth. I pointed where I wanted his fire to go. I watched as he pulled in a short breath and opened his mouth slightly. Just as I removed my hand, a white stream of fire came out of his mouth. He held it there for about three seconds and then stopped. The fire resumed burning as if it had never gone out. Toothless looked at me, seemingly asking if he did a good job. I smiled at him. He grunted in satisfaction and then returned to his spot. I returned the poking rod to its perch near the hearth and tucked my knees to my chest, hoping to warm up soon. I was still too awake and jittery to rest.

One of the logs split with a miniature explosion, making Stormfly jump slightly. Astrid stirred and blearily opened her eyes to find me near the hearth.

"Mm. Wh-w'happened?" she asked with a yawn.

"Fire was almost gone," I whispered. I sat back away from the fire and watched as the light pattern danced its way around the floor. And sighed. I couldn't keep from quavering as I exhaled.

"You're still worried, aren't you?" Astrid said.

There was no point in lying. I was way too transparent with my feelings to successfully lie about things like that. So I nodded slowly. "This was probably the fifth time I woke up thinking about the Speed Stingers."

"Hiccup, they're gone. We're gonna check our food supply at dawn's first light. They won't be able to get to it if they really do find a way into Berk. Okay?"

I pulled in another quavering breath, but nodded without looking at Astrid. I shivered from the cold and silently pulled the blanket over myself and propped against Toothless's side again. I heard Astrid take a deep breath as she fell asleep.

I tried to relax but couldn't. Too worried. Toothless moaned softly as he wrapped himself a little more around me. And looked directly into my eyes.

I took a deep breath and felt a little better. "Thanks, buddy," I said to Toothless. Stroked his cheek gently. He whuffed slightly in approval. It didn't take long for sleep to find us again.

* * *

I was first to stir. Just like the middle of last night, the fire at the hearth was glowing embers instead of flames. I glanced around in the cold air, noticing Stormfly and Astrid huddling together for warmth. Thornado was near my dad's bed, underneath a couple of large sheets of leather. My dad was snoring away next to Thornado. I thought for a moment and realized dragons who don't produce fire get just as cold as we do. And if Speed Stingers couldn't do anything with fire, then their feat of braving the cold like they did yesterday was doubly impressive.

Toothless yawned with a groan and stood. Stretched. And looked at me, ready for today.

I followed his lead and stood. Scratched Toothless under his chin. He murmured in happiness, his eyes closed. "G'morning, bud," I whispered. After a few seconds, I grabbed my trousers, coat and earmuffs and donned them. Shuffled past Toothless and opened the back door because it was closer to us. I could just barely see dawn was breaking, looking through the top of the doorway. The rest of the opening was an off-white color from the snowfall we had yesterday.

I frowned slightly, knowing both this exit and the skylight were blocked with snow drifts. I couldn't let Toothless blast it out of the way. It would have been too loud, and snow would go flying everywhere. Including indoors, which would have been a mess to clean up. I closed the door quietly and snuck toward our front door. Just before reaching it, I looked at Astrid and Stormfly. Neither of them awoke. I turned and faced the door again.

And stopped myself. Something didn't feel right. I closed my eyes and listened, leaning slightly toward the door. I heard Toothless, Stormfly and my dad breathing, but there was something else. It was coming from outside. I listened more intently, and heard it after about ten seconds. A high-pitched, short grunt. Followed by another. Three. Four. Five. All within seconds of each other. Toothless rumbled slightly, waking Stormfly. Astrid groaned and yawned as her source of warmth left her.

I opened my eyes and stared at the wall in front of me in shock. Those were Speed Stingers I had just heard.

From behind me, Astrid mumbled, "Hiccup, why is Toothless…" I held a hand up to stop her. She fell silent. I listened a second time, hoping what I heard wasn't real.

Those grunts sounded again, this time from much closer. There was no way they could have been from across the rift Snotlout made yesterday. They were coming from somewhere within Berk. And it sounded like the front door was closest to them.

I turned and faced Astrid, who had just lost every bit of color from her face. Her expression told me exactly what she was thinking.

Toothless turned to the front door and began growling. This time, it was loud enough for Thornado and my dad to wake up simultaneously. Thornado lumbered over to the front door and fixed his gaze on it, rumbling.

"What in Thor's name is going on out there?" my dad groaned as he stood from his bed. He grabbed his helmet and fur tunic

We got rid of the ice. Made a rift in the bridge so this wouldn't happen. _We stopped the dragons yesterday_. But somehow, the Speed Stingers managed to find their way into Berk.

Those grunts from outside became more frequent. I even heard them over the three dragons we had in this house. And not only that, I heard an occasional click, which presumably came from the Speed Stingers as well. If they lived in a pack, then they must have been experts at communicating with each other.

I definitely didn't feel good about having a bunch of dragons wandering around Berk, or more accurately, a bunch of strange, aggressive dragons. What made it even worse was that we had no food or water in this house. At some point today, someone would have to wander outside and get something to eat and drink.

Before we could launch into an argument about it, I volunteered. "Uh, Dad? Astrid? I'm gonna take Toothless to get some food and water."

Both Astrid and my dad turned to me, their eyes wide.

"No, you're not," my dad said. "You're going to stay here. There's no telling what can happen to you and Toothless out there."

I shrugged. "The Speed Stingers can't fly. I can make trips from here to the great hall in the air."

Astrid groaned in frustration, knowing the stubbornness I had as a stereotypical Viking was showing itself. "All right, Hiccup. You make the first trip," she told me. "I've got the next one."

"Astrid, it's not making me feel any better to know _both_ of you are risking your lives out there," my dad told her.

"What are we supposed to do?" I asked him. "Just sit here and hope those dragons will magically go away?"

"They will eventually," he replied.

"Yeah," I said, trying to cover a short laugh. "When we're out of food."

"Our stores should be locked," my dad said. "The only way a dragon could get into them is if it could breathe fire."

"Um," Astrid said, eyeing me. "_Can_ they?"

I shrugged. "The entire time with Johann, that dragon never looked like it was going to do anything with fire. I'm gonna assume they can breathe fire for now." I faced the front door again, signaling I was going outside whether Astrid and my dad liked it or not.

"Be careful, Hiccup."

I nodded. Looked at Toothless. "Ready, bud?" I asked him. He blinked at me and moved slightly toward the door. I listened for a beat, making sure there weren't any Speed Stingers nearby and pulled the door open a notch. Looked down. About a foot of snow had collected back here, which was much easier to negotiate than what was guarding the front door. I slowly pulled the door wider to let Toothless through, finding nothing but white greeting us. No dragons on this line of sight.

I was about to step out when I realized the plate I had made for my peg was still on Johann's boat with the dead Speed Stinger. I made room for Toothless to jump through, and he did without hesitation. He took about four hops and then turned around to look at me.

I heard Astrid giggle from behind me. "He must really like snow," she said.

"Yeah, he does." I turned back to Astrid and said, "I'll come back. Promise." Stepped through the door and closed it behind me. Just as my peg sank all the way to the ice layer at the bottom of the snow drift. I groaned slightly in frustration as I watched Toothless, making sure he wouldn't go too far today. Before he could get too into his little game, I called out to him, "C'mon, Toothless. Let's go flying."

I heard an excited grunt from my left as Toothless crashed through a snow drift, sending a shower of white in every direction. Toothless stopped a few feet short of me with an eager look on his face. I dragged myself over to him and hopped on his back with some trouble. Toothless was generally able to stay on top of the snow we had built up around Berk. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was about a foot shorter than normal. But somehow I managed to hook into the stirrup without sliding off his back today. And as usual, Toothless took off without warning.

I simply followed along for this flight. We had different reasons for being up here today, which was a rarity. Most of the time, we went flying because it was exhilarating. Like it was an incurable addiction. But today, Toothless was up in the air for the fun of it like normal. I, on the other hand, was up here because I wanted to scope out the island. Maybe I could get an idea of what the Speed Stingers were doing and what they were after if I could see most of the island at once.

Toothless banked left, heading toward the western yak pasture and ice bridge. We were flying over the rugged coastline, somewhat around the armory and forge. No black smoke today, so it was supposedly empty. Just before our view of the plaza was obscured by the armory, I saw a green flash dart across the plaza. I sighed in irritation, knowing what I heard from inside the house this morning was real. We had Speed Stingers in Berk.

Toothless passed the armory and was heading for the great hall. He apparently wanted a short flight, probably because he was hungry. Just before he started his descent, I nudged him slightly with my right knee. It was my signal to him that I wanted to take control of the flight. Immediately, Toothless relaxed his wings and let me lead him. We rose back into the air just as we passed the great hall. I noticed the front doors were closed. Flying around back, the rear entrance was also closed. And next door was the silo we used to store our cache of food for the winters. Those doors were also shut.

I glanced around town and noticed there was nobody wandering around the village. Checked the sun. It was mostly in view, which told me people should have generally been awake for the day. But with Speed Stingers around, it was probable that people would be holed up in their homes, waiting for the dragons to leave.

I guided Toothless in a tight circle and had him land at the front doors of the great hall. As soon as he touched down, a shrill roar echoed through the village, followed by several loud clicks. Toothless's right side was facing the door, and those sounds had come from our left. I glanced in that direction and saw two green dragons barreling their way toward us.

"Toothless, UP!" I shouted, yanking upward on his saddle. He grunted as he jumped into the air and hovered about fifteen feet above the ground. The Speed Stingers stopped short of where Toothless was just a couple of seconds ago and looked up at us. One of them gave four short grunts in quick succession. It wasn't long before three more Speed Stingers joined them. All of them were glaring at us, like they were ready to attack if we got within their range.

I paid close attention to what the Speed Stingers were doing. They simply stood there, guarding the front door of the great hall without really doing anything else. No fire. Only an occasional grunt or cackle. But above all, they stood their ground. After a few seconds, I realized these dragons weren't going to disperse until Toothless and I were out of their sight.

_How am I going to get in and out of the great hall?_ I wondered. Time to try an experiment.

I directed Toothless to his right, so that we were flying between our storage silo and the great hall. Unsurprisingly, the Speed Stingers followed us, keeping Toothless in their sight. I led Toothless beyond the great hall and out toward the yak pasture. But the dragons stopped just short of entering the pasture. I groaned in frustration, knowing these dragons had found our food stores. We always had a stock of fish and chicken in the great hall for meals, and any surplus food was kept in the silo.

I turned Toothless around and approached the silo. A high-pitched roar met my ears. Toothless growled as we headed toward the silo. Just as three Speed Stingers showed themselves again. We flew past the silo and toward the armory, the dragons following us on foot. They stopped about ten feet short of the armory and didn't continue following.

I had Toothless hover for a few seconds over the rocky coastline behind the forge, which was essentially a second structure attached to the armory. And luckily, there was a back entrance to the forge. I glanced around and saw no Speed Stingers, so I directed Toothless to land at the back entrance. Quickly dismounted and pushed the door open.

"C'mon, Toothless," I said. He grunted as he trotted into the forge. I closed and locked the door behind us.

There were two candles already lit, which meant someone was nearby.

"Gobber?" I asked into the forge. I waited. After a few seconds, there was no response, so Gobber must have been here recently and was coming back soon. I shrugged and entered my study. It was completely normal with all the plans and designs I had come up with over the years strewn about like a whirlwind blew through here. But near my desk was a small stack of plates I made earlier this winter. I grabbed one and attached it to my peg and felt way more secure about walking around outside.

I left my study in disarray like it was supposed to be. It was a deterrent for anyone who wanted to snoop around in there. They'd have to pick their way through a complete mess of unrelated designs before they could find anything of interest. And most of the pages I had with Night Fury sketches and other bits of information were hidden in stacks of parchment.

I poked around the armory and forge for a short time. Gobber wasn't here, and neither was any other Viking. Toothless and I were the only ones here. I looked at the candles again and scowled. It was bright enough in here with only the coals at the bellows. I shrugged and blew out the candles, knowing if Gobber decided to return, he could relight them without a lot of fuss.

Next to the entrance of my study, I grabbed two hooks I had made in my spare time a few months ago. At the Academy, we were trying to figure out how to get food to an injured dragon or rider, and this seemed to be the best solution. The hooks were designed to latch onto the handles of Toothless's saddle, so he could feasibly carry two baskets on either side. And predictably, Toothless seemed more interested in eating what was in those baskets rather than moving them around. I smiled sheepishly because I knew if I could get into the great hall, I'd run into that exact problem.

"Let's go, bud," I said quietly to Toothless. I led him out of the forge through the back exit and climbed on his back with less effort than the first time this morning. Mainly because I could actually stand on the snow this time around. I stowed the plate in my satchel, hooked in with my peg, and we took off. I nudged Toothless gently with my right knee, directing him on a beeline toward the great hall. The plan was to get to the entrance so quickly the Speed Stingers wouldn't have time to respond.

As the great hall became clearer, I saw several Speed Stingers near the double doors leading to the front entrance. The entrance in the rear was void of any dragons, so that was our target.

"Right there, Toothless," I said to him, pointing out the back entrance. We pulled into a shallow dive. At the last instant, I rolled toe-up and Toothless came to a soft landing about five feet away from the door.

Two of the Speed Stingers shrieked as we landed. I saw at least four of them round the corner as I pulled the door open.

"TOOTHLESS! INSIDE!" I shouted to him. He leapt indoors before I could give him a chance to react to the dragons plowing toward us. I dove in after him, slamming the door shut behind myself. The great hall echoed with a loud _thud_ from the door. And outside, I heard several screeches, clicks and grunts, which caused Toothless to growl at the door behind us.

Inside the great hall, there were lit candles dotting the open area here and there. To my right was a moderately-sized pile of fish. They smelled fresh, so they were either stored in the cold or were caught this morning. But just like the armory and forge, the great hall was empty. No Vikings and no dragons, including Speed Stingers. This was getting a little too eerie for comfort. I felt like most of Berk had suddenly disappeared overnight.

"No, Toothless," I said to him. He was edging toward the pile of fish, looking for something to eat. I strode between him and his meal. He dutifully sat on his haunches, looking at me expectantly. I quickly grabbed two baskets and filled them with fish. Stormfly would simply have to do with fish for the day instead of chicken. I hooked the baskets onto Toothless's saddle. Toothless intensified his gaze at me. He was trying to guilt-trip me about not feeding him when there was a large pile of fish not ten feet from him.

"When we get home," I told him. I led him using his saddle toward the front entrance of the great hall, hoping we could dupe the Speed Stingers for at least a few seconds. I knew we had to be quick about this for two reasons. First, Toothless would never let me hear the end of this if I didn't give him breakfast soon. Second, the Speed Stingers would be able to smell the fish from a mile away. No doubt they'd give chase.

I pulled one of the doors open slowly and peeked through the slit of light filtering into the great hall. No Speed Stingers. I listened for a beat, then threw the door open and guided Toothless out. Quickly shut the door behind me and checked to make sure it stayed shut. It did. I climbed onto Toothless's back and hooked in one more time. And just like usual, we took off.

Behind us, I heard several grunts. Looked back to find those same Speed Stingers heading in our direction again.

I leaned forward in the saddle and nudged Toothless with my right knee. "Home, bud," I told him. He grunted and powered forward with his wings. I smiled, knowing there wasn't a dragon faster than a Night Fury. Although, there wasn't enough space between the great hall and home to really separate ourselves from the Speed Stingers. I didn't want to lead them on a wild chase through the village because that would bring other people in harm's way. We simply had to be fast enough to get home.

Just like when we entered the great hall, I had Toothless pull into a shallow dive. He stopped about five feet short of the front door to our house. I jumped off his back and wrenched the door open. Toothless bounded inside knowing he was about to get his meal. I dove in after him and slammed the door shut. Several grunts and clicks sounded from outside, followed by heavy scratching noises.

Stormfly cackled at the wall, but the sounds outside didn't stop for at least a few minutes. Thornado glowered at the same wall as if he and Stormfly could see the Speed Stingers through it.

I unhooked the baskets from Toothless's saddle as my dad said, "They followed you here?"

I looked at him and nodded slowly. Astrid was to my right. "They're guarding the silo and great hall."

"Why?" he asked.

"They know where our food is kept."

"And now they know some of it is in this house," Astrid added with a hint of irritation.

"What was I supposed to do!?" I shouted.

"You could have come back without any fish and told us we needed to go to the great hall," my dad said.

"Toothless and I were just barely fast enough to avoid those dragons. I don't even know if any other dragon could do this."

"Sure we could," Astrid said. "You, me and your dad. Together."

I looked at her in disbelief. "That leaves one of us stranded," I told her without missing a beat. "One of us gets locked outside and becomes the target of their attention."

Toothless interrupted our argument with a low moan. He was staring at one of the baskets in front of him, wondering when he'd be able to eat. I groaned in frustration because I felt like I had doomed myself, my dad and Astrid to our fates by advertising the fact that we had a food source just out of the Speed Stingers' reach.

I opened the basket and tipped it over, spilling about half of it on the floor for Toothless. Grabbed a fish off the top of his pile and gave the basket to Astrid. "Hope Stormfly is gonna be fine without chicken for now," I told her without feeling.

"She'll be okay." Astrid gave the basket to Stormfly and joined me at the hearth, where I had already skewered my fish and was cooking it in the fire. My dad fed Thornado and joined both of us soon after.

After our meals were cooked, we ate in silence.


	5. Chapter 5

The grunting and clicking outside our house didn't stop. Sure, the dragons slowly lost _some_ of their interest. But they never truly gave up.

I didn't look anywhere except at the table in front of me. Couldn't hold Astrid's or my dad's stares right now. Especially when the tension around us was so high. I thought I did the right thing by bringing us food and water, and all it got us was who knows how many Speed Stingers surrounding the house, demanding we give all our food to them.

Toothless sat on his haunches next to me and grunted, asking for attention. I glanced at him briefly, then looked back at the table. After a few seconds, he grunted again, this time more urgently, brushing his snout into my left arm.

"How can he be so oblivious to what's happening outside?" Astrid asked sullenly.

I shrugged, not looking at her. I knew Stormfly and Thornado had their attention fixed on the front door, just in case the Speed Stingers found a way inside. I thought Toothless would have done the same thing, but he apparently had a different way of showing his protective side. He wanted to make sure I was gonna be okay. I sighed as quietly as I could, but the plume of steam exiting my mouth gave it away.

"Hiccup," my dad whispered.

I ignored him. Didn't want to face what I had inadvertently done to us. I just wanted to somehow disappear and not have to worry about the Speed Stingers anymore.

"_Hiccup_," he said, this time with more emphasis.

I took a deep breath and looked at him, moving slowly.

"Why aren't you thinking ahead, son?" he asked.

"Because I've killed everyone in this house," I said in bitter sarcasm.

"Here we go…" Astrid mumbled under her breath.

"Go ahead! Tell the entire world how I failed at trying to be helpful!" I shouted. "Isn't that _kinda_ like every other time I've tried to make someone's life easier!? Isn't that why everyone shoves me into a corner when something's happening!?"

"Hiccup, if you're going to whine about something like that, do it outside!" Astrid shouted back. Stormfly and Toothless hissed at her, startled by her tone of voice. She ignored them. "_Please_, just start thinking of a way to get food and water."

"Why?" I shot back. "It'll just-"

"ENOUGH!" my dad shouted. He jumped out of his chair, sending it toppling to the ground. Toothless roared at him loud enough to make Astrid and me wince. My dad didn't budge. "I'm tired of listening to you complain about problems that you don't even have! Start showing you actually care about someone besides yourself!"

I glared at Astrid and my dad for a second, then shoved my chair backwards. Toothless jumped away slightly to avoid being smacked by the backrest, but I didn't care. I stormed upstairs and sat down on my bed, knees curled into my chest. And squeezed my eyes shut in frustration.

I hated being in a mood like this. Absolutely hated it. Because they always appear suddenly and you can't stop digging your own grave. No matter how hard you try to stop, it always gets worse. And there's nothing anyone, Viking or dragon, can do to help you get over it. As deep as you dug that hole, you've gotta find a way to get yourself out of it.

Downstairs, I heard Astrid groan in frustration. "Go bother Hiccup," she said tersely. "He's _your_ human." Toothless was probably hovering around Astrid for some reason.

I stayed put. Didn't care about what was happening downstairs. The way I saw it, there were problems I didn't want to face right now in that part of the house. Even though I knew I was gonna have to face those problems and Astrid and my dad eventually.

"Toothless, stop!" Astrid shouted at him. I heard him grunting, like he needed something. Not long after, Astrid stomped upstairs and said, "I don't care what you think of me, but your dragon needs you."

I rolled my eyes and slowly got off my bed, not feeling any better than I did when I stormed up here. "Move," I said quietly, brushing past Astrid. Slowly walked downstairs and found Toothless with a worried look on his face. He grunted a few more times at me. "Great," I said. "You've gotta go outside." Couldn't have happened at a more inconvenient time. Toothless had to relieve himself, and luckily, he was housebroken.

I put my hands on my hips and sighed without trying to hide it. Closed my eyes for a brief second and tried to look anywhere except Astrid, Toothless or my dad. _Especially_ my dad, because he was the one I needed for what I had in mind. I knew the doors leading outside were suicide with Speed Stingers around us. The only other exit from this house was the skylight, which was covered in snow. Too heavy for me to lift, which left only one person in this household able to open it. My dad.

"I'm…gonna…," I choked out before pausing. Looked my dad in the eyes, regardless of how scared I was or how much it hurt. "Can…canyoupensklight?" I mumbled.

"What?" he asked, furrowing his brows. He glared at me, giving me one more chance to actually make sense to him without blowing up again.

I took a deep breath and said, "Can you open the skylight?" I concentrated on each letter, making sure to enunciate every sound clearly.

He sighed audibly then said, "Astrid, downstairs." Without hesitation, she walked back toward us. "Sit down and stay here, young lady." She nodded as she pulled up a chair and leaned on the table. My dad plodded halfway up the stairs then looked at me. "Come on, son." Begrudgingly, I followed him back up to the second floor of our house. By the time I finished climbing the stairs, my dad was already near the sealed hole in the roof. He was standing at his full height, which made me feel more insignificant than I already was. "Get Toothless up here," he told me.

Slowly, I made my way over to the edge of the floor and looked at Toothless. "C'mon, Toothless," I told him without feeling. He trotted up the stairs with the same intensely worried look on his face as a few moments ago.

Before I could react, my dad pulled me into a loose hug and whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

I took a deep breath and said, "Yeah. Me too."

"I'll open the skylight for you and Toothless. When you two come back, can you have an idea of how to get food and water around the village?"

I nodded slowly without looking at him. "Yeah. I'll figure something out," I mumbled.

My dad pulled away from me and stood on my bed. He unhooked the latch holding the skylight cover shut and shoved upward. The cover opened about halfway, so he shoved again. I heard the crunch of fresh snow being compressed on the back side of the cover. Several large chunks of snow dropped into the house, which was going to be difficult to handle because it wouldn't take long for the snow to melt. But the cover stayed open. My dad nodded at me and plodded back downstairs.

I grabbed a knife and stowed it in my belt. Sighed and looked at Toothless, who was still wearing the same expression on his face. He wasn't concerned about the knife at all. "Ready, bud?" I asked him. I felt like I was violating our friendship because every time I called Toothless "bud," I meant it. But this time, there was no feeling, no connection behind that word.

I climbed onto Toothless's back and hooked in with my peg. I hunkered down in the saddle to avoid my head striking the wooden frame surrounding the skylight. And Toothless jumped up, finding purchase on the roof and climbing out of the house.

"Hold, Toothless," I told him as I unhooked from the stirrup. I dismounted from his back and closed the skylight. A light flurry was drifting down from the pale grey clouds above us, but I knew it could become a raging blizzard without warning.

Looking at the way the snow piled up around the house, there was probably no way the Speed Stingers would be able to access the roof. It was about ten feet above any snow drift, and those dragons probably couldn't use their arms to lift themselves very well anyway. But for safety's sake, I checked the skylight to make sure it really was closed. It was.

I gave a quiet groan as I got on Toothless's back again. Hooked in with my peg and said, "All right, Toothless. Let's go flying."

Toothless jumped from the roof and soared to a point at the edge of the forest on the eastern side of the village. He paused, waiting for me to get off his back so I could stand guard. Or something like that. I slid down into the snow, keeping my hand on his side. Reached into the satchel and pulled out the plate I had stored there this morning. As Toothless trotted a few paces into the forest, I attached the plate to the bottom of my peg. And waited.

I glanced around myself, not seeing any Speed Stingers. They didn't seem to notice Toothless and I had left through the roof. On this side of our house, I counted six green dragons. So roughly ten or twelve total surrounding the house.

In the distance to the west was the great hall. It was too far away to pick out any Speed Stingers over there, but I knew they were gathered in that area. Around the other houses in the village, I counted twenty-one green dragons. Each dragon seemed to be doing the exact same thing. Waiting. Waiting for the perfect time to attack so they could get access to whatever food was being hidden from them.

I glanced back at Toothless to see what he was doing. He had finished and was cautiously loping in my direction. I could tell he was concerned about my state of mind, which didn't make me feel any better for losing my temper earlier.

_Why do I have to be so dumb?_ I wondered to myself. I was magnifying the problem we had with the Speed Stingers. Yes, they were in the village, trying to get a hold of our food stores. But that was it. I hadn't hurt anyone. I felt a weight drop in my stomach as I realized this. If anything, I felt a little worse about myself for being so stupid momentarily.

I looked Toothless in the eyes and said to him, "Toothless, I'm sorry." Took a step toward him. He stayed in his spot, not moving. But he kept his eyes on me. I slowly reached out my right hand toward him, hoping he'd accept my apology. I scared him with my temper, and I had to earn his trust back.

I stayed where I was and held my hand out for him to approach. Slowly, he moved his weight to his front legs with a soft groan and fixed his eyes on my hand. As he got closer, I felt his breath warming my hand slightly. And after about five seconds, Toothless brushed his snout against my fingers.

"That's it," I whispered. I slowly closed the rest of the distance between us and hugged Toothless gently around his neck and chest. "It's okay, bud. I won't do that to you again. I promise," I told him. Slowly, that warm feeling of being around Toothless returned. He felt like my best friend again. And I felt like he was going to protect me. Toothless moaned softly after a few seconds, saying he still liked me.

I pulled away from Toothless and saw a look of trust in his eyes again.

"So how are we gonna get food and water around Berk?" I asked Toothless. He blinked, signaling he knew I was talking to him. I crossed my arms in thought and looked around the village. There were still no signs of Vikings around the village. Occasionally, there was a flash of green darting around the great hall or silo. And around our house, I heard several clicks, grunts and snarls.

I was generally surprised Toothless didn't try to scare the Speed Stingers around our house off. Normally, he went too far in protecting me from any danger. But he wasn't growling or even tense at the moment.

I surveyed the village one more time and found nothing else of interest. From our point of view just inside the forest, there was nothing that gave me any hints as to how I could attack this Speed Stinger problem.

"C'mon, buddy, let's see what we can find," I suggested to Toothless. I knew we needed to make a quick trip around the island because my dad and Astrid were figuring they let Toothless out to relieve himself, and we were coming back immediately after that. I got on his back, removed the plate from my peg and stowed it, then clicked into the stirrup. Toothless jumped, and I nudged him gently with my right knee. I was gonna take control of this flight.

As Toothless rose into the air, I noticed a Monstrous Nightmare asleep in the open just behind Snotlout's house. It was Hookfang. I gulped when I realized Snotlout kept him outside, leaving him vulnerable.

"Right there, bud," I whispered, pointing out Hookfang to Toothless. He grunted and pulled into a shallow dive, heading for Hookfang.

We landed about ten feet away from Snotlout's dragon, but he didn't move one bit. His back was facing us, so I slowly walked around to his front and saw his eyes were open and unmoving. Just like Johann's yesterday when I found him curled up in his boat.

I reached to my belt and pulled the knife out, ready to defend myself. I was expecting another Speed Stinger or two nearby. Looked around and saw nothing.

I crouched near Hookfang's head and whispered his name. Touched his snout, trying to get a reaction out of him. Nothing. His eyes didn't even move.

I turned toward the great hall just as Toothless began growling. I glanced back at him and blanched. He had locked eyes with two Speed Stingers, but one was different than the others I had seen so far. This one had a red frill and red stripes going from side to side all the way down its body. Nearby was another Speed Stinger that was solid green, just like what I had seen.

The red-and-green Speed Stinger took a small step forward and roared at Toothless. Without warning, Toothless shot a plasma blast at the dragon's feet and then roared back. The fireball created a shower of white around the two dragons. _This_ was the Toothless I was used to. I watched as the red-and-green dragon quickly turned around and fled, the green dragon closely following with several grunts. Four other Speed Stingers appeared seemingly out of nowhere and followed.

I stood there in mild shock, realizing the red-and-green Speed Stinger must have been some kind of leader of the pack of dragons. There was no other way five dragons would follow it without question.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toothless turn in my direction. He quickly jumped forward with a warning roar that snapped my concentration. I looked toward him to find him already lunging around my left side, glaring straight through me. His mouth was wide open, like he was ready to deliver a fireball or crunch down on some unlucky dragon's neck. Without thinking, I jumped to my right, letting Toothless take care of whatever problem was nearby. In one fluid motion, he whipped around my side and shot another fireball that exploded with a hollow _bang_. I looked at what he had just shot. It was another Speed Stinger. This one was also green, so I guessed it wasn't any kind of leader. The dragon moaned in pain for a couple of seconds and then collapsed in the snow. Its eyes went glassy.

Out of nowhere, I heard a high-pitched roar come from my left side. I scrambled onto Toothless's back, making him jump in surprise. He roared then cut himself off when he realized it was me.

Several grunts met my ears, and they all seemed to come from different angles. From a moderate distance, I saw two Speed Stingers sprinting in our direction, which was enough to tell me we needed to leave. I tried to jam my peg into the stirrup but felt a resistance, like it was stuck. Looked down. The stirrup had frozen over. And the Speed Stingers were still sprinting their way toward us, revenge on their minds.

I grunted as I slammed my peg through the layer of ice that had built on the stirrup and shouted, "TOOTHLESS, UP!" I yanked upward on his saddle. He jumped with a grunt and got out of the Speed Stingers' reach with at most a couple of seconds to spare. I nudged him with my left knee, telling him we needed to get back home soon. Just before we turned our backs to the dragons, I saw the leader again with its red stripes and frill. It roared in our direction and took off, following us. Around it, I lost count of how many green dragons there were, but I guessed around twenty or so. And all of them weren't far behind that one dragon.

"Toothless, no," I told him. I didn't need to learn this lesson twice. Going home meant we were bringing the entire herd of Speed Stingers with us. Instead, I rolled peg-in, turning us on a wide bank to the right. Maybe we could lose the dragons in the forest. And if not lose them, maybe we could trap them somewhere.

We flew over the treetops, hearing the grunts, clicks and cries of the Speed Stingers below. Toothless was flying at a quick pace, and the dragons below us had no trouble keeping up. I thought for a brief second on where I wanted to direct these dragons. I knew the cove wasn't an option. That place was my safe haven, and I wanted it to stay that way. So I turned Toothless slightly to our left, heading for the mountain at the northeastern side of the island. And without question, the Speed Stingers followed. Looking more closely at the herd of green dragons below, I noticed a couple of them had broken off from the main pack and were either straggling or seemingly questioning the point of chasing us.

I didn't have time to worry about those few dragons. Toothless roared in alarm as the mountain loomed in front of us. I hitched a little to the left to avoid crashing and said, "Toothless, I hope you trust me, buddy."

I stole a glance backwards and saw most of the Speed Stingers were still chasing. Turned forward, pulling in a quick breath. The island of Berk abruptly ended, leaving crashing waves beneath us. The air also turned extremely cold with no land to soak up any heat.

I rolled toe-down and pushed on Toothless's saddle. He shot downward, plunging us toward the open ocean. At the last minute, we pulled out of his dive and banked right, away from the village. I knew there weren't any well-defined paths that led completely around the mountain, which meant the Speed Stingers would probably get discouraged. And hopefully stuck. My goal was to make them lose sight of us. Hopefully that would give Toothless and me enough time to get back home without further incident.

I shivered as the cold air finally began its work on me. It was also affecting my mind, because I quickly stopped worrying about the Speed Stingers and began focusing only on getting home. I didn't care what those dragons were doing any more.

With just barely enough presence of mind to commit to the impromptu plan I had formed just a few seconds ago, I directed Toothless around the mountain and forest, making sure to keep from alerting the Speed Stingers we had lured into the open. As we crossed over land again, the air warmed significantly, but the rushing wind kept everything around me frozen. My eyes were burning from the cold, and my nose and mouth were completely numb. Toothless was gasping for breath. I hunkered down in the saddle, hoping to make us more aerodynamic so we could get home faster.

In the distance, I saw a few wisps of curling smoke. The village couldn't have been too far away. And from the direction we were approaching, I knew our house was the first one we'd find.

It didn't take long before our house was in view. Smoke was rising from the chimney, which told me there was a welcoming fire at the hearth. Toothless groaned in exhaustion, losing altitude quickly. I was too cold to say anything, so I simply braced myself for a crash landing. We slammed into the snow-covered ground about fifty feet away from home with a muffled _thump_. Toothless skidded on his front about ten feet and then stopped, his head buried in snow. I somehow moved my right leg over his back and tried to get my peg out of the stirrup, but it wouldn't budge. Looked down. There was a thick layer of ice built around the peg and stirrup. I tried to jam free from Toothless's saddle, but the stirrup wouldn't budge.

Cursing under my breath, I slipped the peg free from my left leg and collapsed on the ground. I wrapped my hands, which were burning from the cold, around the peg and pulled, trying to free it. After two pulls, there was a crunching noise, and the peg slipped free from the stirrup. I fell backwards and sat down to avoid tumbling any further. From the satchel at my waist, I pulled out the plate I used to walk on snow and attached it to my peg. I slipped the peg back onto my left leg and stood. Walked over to Toothless and uncovered his head so he wouldn't freeze. I turned, facing our door and began striding back home. There, I could get my dad and Astrid to help me get Toothless inside to recover.

I reached our front door and yanked on it. The door opened, revealing my dad, Stormfly and Thornado, all facing with their backs to the door. There was a roaring fire at the hearth. And there was a green bipedal dragon with red eyes glaring back at me.


	6. Chapter 6

Terror gripped my mind as I saw the Speed Stinger pull back its upper lips and snarl. It showed off its teeth, making sure I knew just how dangerous and angry it was. The dragon roared at me from within the house, the sound reverberating for a few seconds. I was shivering in both fright and cold, unable to move anything, including my eyes. They were locked on the dragon in front of me.

I watched as the Speed Stinger took a slow step in my direction. Somehow, the movement brought me just barely back to my senses. I saw the dragon slowly close the distance between us, and I knew exactly why it was intimidating me.

This Speed Stinger had claimed its territory. And I was intruding on it.

Without looking, I pulled the knife out from my belt. I saw the dragon react as its eyes moved from my own down to my left side, where I had the knife pointing at its chest. My heart was pounding, and sweat was running down my chest and back. I tried to gulp when the dragon took another step toward me, but my mouth was completely dry. The dragon intensified its snarl at me, telling me to leave it alone.

_No_, I thought. Some misplaced sense of protectiveness surged within me. Stormfly, my dad and Thornado were in my house, seemingly unmindful of the Speed Stinger a couple feet away. This dragon had already done its work on them. They were completely unable to defend themselves. Astrid was nowhere to be seen, and Toothless was behind me. He hadn't come to my rescue yet, which meant he was too exhausted to stand. Or do anything else for that matter.

I flexed my knees slightly, ready to fight. The Speed Stinger roared again, nearly deafening me with its shrill cry. I winced slightly, unable to hide it. But I stayed my ground. Through some convoluted plan, I was gonna get the Speed Stinger out of the house, get Toothless inside and lock the door behind us. But first, I had to get the dragon out of the house.

I took a slow step backward, hoping to keep this staring contest going. The dragon took a step forward. I stepped backward with my right foot and nearly tripped over a small snow drift. I looked down to check my balance just as I heard the Speed Stinger roar again from inside. My eyes went wide, and I looked up to find the dragon barreling forward. My concentration was broken by that little snow drift, and now I was about to become the next victim of paralysis in Berk.

The Speed Stinger was maybe five feet away from me when it lunged forward without turning. I saw its right foot come up like it was going to eviscerate me with its claws. Instinctively, my left hand came up, meeting its foot with the business end of the knife. I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away as I felt the knife bite into the Speed Stinger's foot. The dragon continued its lunge forward, inadvertently stabbing itself.

I was knocked backwards by the sheer force of the Speed Stinger clobbering me with its full body weight. In sheer panic, I didn't realize for a second or two that my knife was now driven to the hilt in the dragon's right foot.

As my vision cleared, I began looking for the knife and found it in a pool of dragon's blood. The Speed Stinger had collapsed on its side, a large gash opened from the center of its right foot all the way to the outside. Blood was pouring out onto the snow, making a stark contrast between red and white. I picked up the knife just as the dragon roared again. Although this time it seemed like its tone was a mix of pain and anger.

I turned to face the Speed Stinger again and noticed it was about six feet away from Toothless's head. And Toothless still wasn't moving. If it got its senses back for even a second, Toothless was as good as dead. Panting, I lunged my way between the two dragons. The Speed Stinger roared again and whipped its body sideways, its tail striking the snow where my right foot was an instant ago. I stayed between Toothless and the Speed Stinger, trying to keep its attention on me. It was incredibly difficult because the Speed Stinger was lashing at anything it saw. Even though I was pretty sure this dragon would bleed to death, I knew we didn't have that much time. It was already turning manic, just like what happened with the Red Death.

I swiped the knife at the air in front of the Speed Stinger with a sharp yell, hoping to catch its attention. Its tail lashed forward, burying the tip in the snow between my feet. I quickly swiped backward, feeling the jarring blow as the knife's blade gashed its way across the dragon's tail. It screamed in panic and quickly stood up. I noticed its speed would be limited because it was favoring its left side.

Using my peg to push off the snow, I leaped to my right, toward the dragon's good leg and revealing Toothless behind me. It didn't matter though. The Speed Stinger had already set its mind on killing me. It awkwardly pushed toward me using its right foot which sank into the snow. The Speed Stinger stumbled to its left as I realized it probably wasn't going to die because of its foot or tail. The snow was going to help the blood clot. And it wouldn't be long before the dragon calmed down just enough to finish both me and Toothless off.

I jumped toward the dragon, my knife already underneath its chin, pointing to my right. My dad had talked several times about how cutting a dragon's throat was the fastest way to kill it. And I believed him. Still did, too. I brought the knife upward and slashed to my left. Felt the blade sag just a little bit as it bit into the dragon's throat. Several more drops of red patterned the snow below it as the dragon screamed in panic.

But I didn't kill it. Its tail whipped forward, gashing through the yak skin coat I was wearing. Somehow, it didn't even touch my skin. But even more miraculously, its tail got caught in my sleeve. I wrapped my right forearm and hand around the dragon's tail, securing a strong point of contact. I had control of the dragon, even if it was just for a little bit.

I took a large step to my left and brought my right foot over to my peg. I whipped around, using my shoulders and hips to throw the dragon off balance. It shrieked and thrashed, bumping its tail against my arm several times but not gaining any purchase.

I looked at its throat again, noticing I had barely caused any bleeding. I was ready to throw up, thanks to being squeamish about the sight of blood, but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. Without thinking, I brought the knife back up and slashed to my right, hoping this time would be enough. Once again, the dragon screamed and thrashed, spraying blood on the snow in front of us. I followed its powerful movements, making sure not to be thrown off balance.

After a few seconds of the dragon thrashing, I heard and felt a violent snap thrum up through my right hand and arm. The Speed Stinger screeched in abject pain as I realized it had either broken or dislocated its tail from being caught in my sleeve. I yanked on its tail again, sending a wave of agony through the Speed Stinger. I felt its tail slide unnaturally in my hand. It was dislocated. No doubt.

_Come on, just get this done_, I thought. I lunged forward for the third time and swiped the knife across the dragon's throat, but got nothing except for another shriek and more blood on the snow.

"Oh, gods," I mumbled. Those thoughts about blood came back, this time not to be denied. In a last-ditch attempt to finish this, I stepped toward the dragon again, this time stabbing upward through its neck. I felt the knife hesitate just briefly before breaking through its throat and spilling an obscene amount of blood onto my front and the snow in between us. The dragon opened its mouth wide in shock. It gurgled in frozen agony for a few seconds before it slowly collapsed on the red snow, bringing me with it because I was still holding onto the knife and its tail. I let go of the Speed Stinger's tail, and it slid out from my sleeve and flopped at a sickening angle compared to the rest of the dragon's body. The dragon twitched a few times and was still after that, its eyes open but glassy.

I haltingly let go of the knife and staggered away from the Speed Stinger and Toothless. Fell onto my knees and threw up. Tears came out of my eyes and froze on my cheeks as I strained to keep from losing any more breakfast. But it all came back up, and I collapsed onto my side, panting in exhaustion and agony.

They said it was "easy" to kill a dragon by cutting its throat. My dad and Gobber told stories of how one swipe was enough to bring down a Monstrous Nightmare. But I knew now that was a lie. There is nothing easy about cutting a dragon's throat. Even if I wasn't shy about blood, one slash would never be enough for a killing blow.

I curled into a ball and shivered, horrified at what I had just done.

_I killed a dragon._

I moaned in agony, wishing all of this was simply a bad dream. I just wanted to wake up to find Toothless next to me, making sure I was safe.

_I killed a dragon._

Those four words kept repeating themselves in my head, becoming louder every time I thought about it.

_I killed a dragon._

* * *

I had my eyes open the entire time I was lying on the ground next to the dead Speed Stinger. Next to Toothless. I lost complete track of time. Wasn't even sure if it was daytime or nighttime. Couldn't even tell if I was cold. I only knew I was in total shock.

I saw a shadow fall over my eyes and thought, _Just kill me now. I deserve it._

A hand wrapped underneath my right arm and pull me semi-upright. I watched impassively as the dead Speed Stinger slowly receded from my point of view. My boot and peg (with its plate still attached) were making a pair of furrows in the snow as I was dragged along to some place for my judgment.

Whoever it was dragging me brought me into a house with a roaring fire. I felt the warmth as we got closer to the hearth. I was thrown into a chair just before a face appeared inches in front of me. I couldn't focus on who it was, but I knew this person was somewhat heavy-set with a blonde mustache hanging over the sides of his mouth.

I saw the person say something but didn't hear what he said.

"Hiccup," he said, a little more urgently this time. I heard it, but he sounded like he was a mile away and underwater. He waved a blurry hand in front of my face. I couldn't move to tell him I was anywhere near coherent.

He stood and began walking away from me, seemingly giving up for now. His left hand was missing. In its place was a pair of large forceps. A small part of my mind defogged as I realized who this person was.

Gobber had pulled me away from that nightmare. He brought me to a house somewhere on Berk and was taking care of me for now.

My mind slowly began working over what seemed like hours. Maybe I had been too cold to do anything. Either that or the shock of killing a Speed Stinger was too much for me to handle. Probably both.

It started with my eyes. I began focusing on the floor in front of me. Found my peg. Focused on the plate attached to it. My ears were next. I slowly heard the crackle of the fire fade into existence, followed by my breathing. I tried to take a deep breath, and my lungs seized. I keeled over in pain and collapsed on the floor with an agonized groan. The impact to my shoulder jarred me just enough to help me focus.

"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted from somewhere nearby. He picked me up by the arm again and sat me down in the same chair. "Hiccup, talk to me!"

I pulled in a breath, but when I tried to say something, I could only exhale. Couldn't make a sound or even move my lips to act like I was talking.

From somewhere to my right, a girl's voice rang into the house. "Gobber, what happened to Hiccup!?" It was Astrid.

I saw Gobber glance in that direction and shrug. "Not sure. From the looks of it, he might have killed a dragon."

I nodded slightly, movement slowly coming back. Blinked. And slowly focused on Gobber. I looked directly at him, as if I were affirming what he told Astrid.

"T-Tooth…Toothless," I whispered, trying my hardest to enunciate so that Gobber heard me.

He looked at Astrid and asked, "Where's Toothless?"

"Near his house, not moving. Is…Is he dead?" she asked.

I closed my eyes, hoping what I was about to say wasn't a lie. I shook my head slowly and whispered slowly, "Not dead. He's in trouble."

"See if you can get him over here," Gobber translated for her.

I heard the door slam shut behind Astrid. Gobber refocused his attention on me and said, "Come on, Hiccup. Look at me." I did. "I'm not gonna ask you what happened out there," he said, motioning with his hand in the general direction of my house. "Just tell me that you're gonna be okay."

I nodded and said, "I…I think so." Everything was slowly coming back. I had a voice again, even though it was small. My arms and legs felt like dead weight, but I could at least move them somewhat.

"I don't know how long you and Toothless were out there, but you almost died from the cold," he told me.

At that moment, the door slammed open. Gobber looked in that direction and said, "Astrid's got Toothless with her." He watched as Astrid gently coaxed Toothless indoors.

I heard a low groan from my right as Toothless half-dragged himself toward the hearth. He collapsed with his head just barely in my peripheral vision. I looked at him and saw him shivering from the cold. For a brief moment, I wondered why Toothless wasn't himself out there. Why didn't he rush in to protect me like he always did?

"Lock the door, Astrid!" Gobber shouted in her direction. She shut the door and latched it.

From somewhere else in the house, I heard a voice ask, "Is that Master Hiccup?"

"Yes," Astrid announced. "And no, you're not going to bother him."

"Oh, that's too bad. I was sure he would warm up listening to how I-"

"JOHANN, STOP!" Astrid shouted at him. "Just leave him alone!"

Astrid knelt in front of me with a worried look on her face. She paused for a little bit then whispered, "Hiccup, I just want you to know that you're the bravest person I've met."

I tried to thank her. But something shut my throat, and all I could do was look down slightly and close my eyes. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Astrid brushed it away. She was gonna look after me, even though I somehow remembered her dragon was probably in more danger than I was.

Astrid pulled a chair up next to me. Sat down and put her hand on my shoulder. Just like Toothless, she was gonna be there for me when I needed her most.

I sat there with my eyes closed until I fell asleep. My last thought before I slipped out of consciousness was that I killed a dragon.


	7. Chapter 7

_I killed a dragon._

I couldn't believe how horrible I felt about it. Astrid and Gobber didn't seem that concerned about what I did. They even tried to stay away from that topic. But deep down inside, I felt like I couldn't live with myself again.

I wasn't sure if I had a good reason to kill that Speed Stinger. Did it deserve to die? Absolutely not. If I would have shut the door upon seeing it, I wouldn't have had to deal with watching and feeling that dragon die. I wouldn't have had to experience that bottomless-pit-in-my-stomach sickening feeling after seeing all that crimson blood spill from the dragon.

But what if I _had_ shut the door? What if I didn't give that dragon the opportunity to attack? I wondered about that for a little bit then realized there was no "right" solution to this problem. If I had left the Speed Stinger alone, my dad, Stormfly and Thornado would have been trapped with that dragon, unable to defend themselves. It probably wouldn't have taken long for that dragon to kill them.

Something in me must have been thinking ahead when I chose to fight the dragon. And somehow, maybe through a small miracle, I escaped with my life. And Toothless was hopefully okay as well. But it didn't make me feel any better knowing I was directly responsible for killing a dragon.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the floor about ten feet away from the hearth. Looked around quietly. This house didn't seem familiar, so I guessed I was still with Gobber. My eyes settled on Toothless, who was curled up and sleeping lightly about two feet away from my head. Every time he exhaled, a plume of steam came out of his snout. He certainly looked relaxed. I wondered if he knew what I had done in front of him earlier…when was it? Today? Yesterday? Moreover, I wondered if he judged me for it.

I reached slowly toward Toothless's head and stroked his cheek. He groaned softly and opened his eyes. Looked at me. And I instantly felt safer seeing his gaze.

"Hey, bud," I whispered to him with a little smile. "How are you feeling?"

Toothless grunted and dragged himself to about six inches away from me. I sat up, feeling his gentle warmth. Stroked my hand down the side of his neck to his saddle. Toothless rumbled softly, telling me to relax. He was here now.

"I hope…I hope you're not mad at me. I killed a Speed Stinger," I confessed. And left it at that with a long sigh.

Toothless closed his eyes and rubbed his snout against my left arm with a soft grunt. He was asking for attention. I was mostly certain he didn't understand the secrets that I told him. But there were some times, like now, where he seemingly understood exactly what I was saying. And even though I couldn't speak Night Fury, I could interpret what he was telling me. The only thing I needed to do was pay attention to him.

"Thanks, bud," I told him, scratching under his chin. He closed his eyes and murmured in happiness. Toothless wasn't mad at all. And not only that, he promised to keep what I told him a secret. Well, at least I liked to think that way.

I hugged Toothless gently around his neck and whispered, "You're my best friend, Toothless." He let me hold onto him as long as I needed to. When I let go, he gently licked the side of my face, saying he wasn't going to leave me.

Behind me, the door quietly clicked open. I heard the wind blowing through the village, followed by the door shutting quietly. The latch slid into place.

"Are you two feeling better?" Astrid asked in a whisper as she sat down beside us.

I nodded slowly before looking at her. "I think I'm gonna be okay. What about you?"

After a moment, she shrugged, looking away from me and Toothless. "Stormfly is paralyzed. So are your dad and Thornado. I'm just trying to make sure they stay warm while the Speed Stinger venom wears off."

"How long did it take for Johann?" I asked, dropping my voice to a whisper. I wasn't sure if he was still in this house, and I didn't feel like listening to his grand adventures with the Man-eating Metal Masons of Minori Majori again. Or whatever they were. Thankfully, the house was silent, except for me Astrid and Toothless.

"Gobber says about a day and a half from when you brought Johann here," she answered.

"Are they gonna be okay?" I asked, referring to my dad and the two dragons in our house.

"We think so." Upon seeing the look of confusion in my face, she added, "Me and Gobber. Your house is locked tight. Gobber's been upset with me since you and Toothless went out this morning." She had a hint of guilt behind her voice. Astrid lowered her gaze, losing eye contact with me. I watched a tear roll down her face.

"What happened?" I asked without thinking.

Astrid took a deep breath and said, "Everybody was angry in your house. Not just you. After you and Toothless left, I went out to check on my aunt. I was gonna tell her to stay inside and keep the doors locked unless she absolutely had to be outdoors. But when I got about halfway there, I heard Stormfly shouting at something." Astrid paused to sigh and then continued. "I didn't think to close the door because I was so angry. It was open for maybe fifteen seconds, but that was enough to let a Speed Stinger in. I tried to run back there to see if I could fight the dragon off, but it almost stabbed me with its tail. I tried to get it out of the house somehow. I didn't care if it paralyzed me, as long as I could get it out of the house, I knew everything would be okay. But your dad looked at me and told me to not let the dragon get out. So I slammed the door behind me and ran to Gobber's house."

I simply looked at Astrid. I had no idea she could have a lapse of judgment like that. It wasn't even that big of a mistake, but she paid for it in spades. "I'm…I'm sorry," I whispered to her. Wasn't sure if there was anything I could do now. Even if she hadn't confessed, we'd still be in the same predicament.

"It's not your fault," she replied. "I thought you wanted to get away from me and your dad for a little while. In the back of my mind, I thought you were nearby, waiting to come back. I didn't know you and Toothless were trying to keep the Speed Stingers away from Berk." She paused for a little bit and then said, "I've never felt so hopeless."

My heart skipped a beat. I felt the color drain from my face. For that last sentence, I didn't hear Astrid at all. What she said sounded like me. I had spent most of my life with that feeling, thinking it was somehow normal. I didn't understand people who never felt that way. Including Astrid. Now, I could relate to how she felt. But I had no idea what to say. Or if I was supposed to remain silent.

I chose to keep my mouth shut. I had a sinking feeling something sarcastic was going to come out of my mouth, which would only make Astrid feel worse. I put my left hand on her forearm, telling her I was still here. And I wasn't gonna leave her. She had done this several times for me in the past. And Toothless did this all the time. Maybe this was my chance to return the favor.

Astrid looked at my hand briefly and then asked, "What do I do?"

I looked down. I kept on hearing myself. These were the exact feelings I had when I was gonna face Hookfang for my "rite of passage" a year and a half ago. When Mildew incriminated all of our dragons and got them banished from our village. And when Toothless and I were struck by lightning.

"Can you help me get all the Speed Stingers out of Berk?" I asked after a long silence.

"Hiccup, Gobber and I are trying to do that already," she pointed out.

"How?"

She paused. Shrugged her shoulders. "I guess…just keep them away from our food stores."

"That's it?" I said. "What about all the people who live here? What about the dragons we take care of?"

Astrid buried her face in her hands and said, "Hiccup, I already feel horrible about this. You don't need to make it any worse."

As if on cue, Toothless groaned softly and nudged Astrid's right arm with his snout. He was telling Astrid he was gonna protect her.

Astrid looked at Toothless as a tear ran down her face. He rumbled gently, telling her it was gonna be okay. I said nothing, letting Toothless work his magic. Astrid took a deep breath while Toothless waited patiently for her. After a moment, she reached out and scratched his cheek gently. Toothless murmured in contentment, letting Astrid work out all of her anxiety.

Toothless shuffled a little closer to Astrid and gently pushed on her shoulder with a short _whuff_. I watched as Astrid slowly relaxed while she doted on Toothless. It seemed like he was absorbing all of her anxiety and guilt so she wouldn't have to deal with it.

I didn't understand how Toothless was so patient with me. And Astrid for that matter. This wasn't the first time he calmed her state of mind. I thought it was a small miracle that Toothless stayed next to my side, never questioning my bravery or self esteem. He never judged me for being "weak."

I was lost in thought when Astrid whispered, "How does he do it?"

I blinked a couple of times, bringing my mind back to the present tense and asked, "What?" She motioned at Toothless. "Oh. I have no idea. Magic, I guess."

She looked at him contemplatively. Toothless brought his head down slightly and licked her hand. And shuffled back over to me.

"He's so beautiful," she said. I nodded in agreement as I knuckled gently into the top of his head. Toothless pressed back upward, telling me he liked what I was doing.

For a few moments, the air in Gobber's house felt calmer. Like there were no problems out there. The outside world seemed to disappear, all because of Toothless's presence.

I sighed, a plume of steam coming out of my mouth. And decided to try starting a discussion on how we were gonna get the Speed Stingers out of Berk. "Uh, Astrid," I began. "Have you noticed at all that the Speed Stingers have a leader?"

I was ready for a whirlwind. Wasn't sure if Astrid was ready to broach this topic yet. But she simply stared at me and shook her head.

"There's a Speed Stinger that has green and red stripes. I think they follow him. Or her. Wherever that dragon goes, the rest of them will follow."

Astrid sat there in thought for a little bit. "How did you find that out?" she asked.

"After I took Toothless outside, I noticed Hookfang was paralyzed. I had Toothless fly over to him, and there were several Speed Stingers nearby. One of them had those red and green stripes. When Toothless shot a plasma blast to intimidate the dragons, that one was the first to run away. And all the others around us followed it."

"So you think we can somehow capture that dragon and take it somewhere off of Berk?"

"Yeah, that's my idea."

"What if they try to come back?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and thought for a little bit. Snotlout had created a large gap in the ice sheet extending west from Berk. But it didn't seem to do any good because the Speed Stingers arrived here anyway. "I don't know," I said after a pause. "Maybe we could stand guard on the western edge of Berk."

Astrid furrowed her brow in concentration. "That'd be awfully cold for whoever is out there. What if we built some kind of wall to keep them out?"

"That could work," I said without much thought. Then a realization hit me. My forehead met my left palm as I said, "It would take too long. We'd have to move it as soon as all the Speed Stingers are out of Berk and lock it in place."

"Does this mean you're giving up?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said with a sigh.

"Well, don't," she said assertively. "Keep thinking. Maybe something will stick." Astrid sounded like she was back to normal. Thanks to Toothless.

I wondered how we might be able to get the Speed Stingers out of Berk. Those dragons were unbelievably elusive. I felt that it was a pure stroke of luck to even catch a glimpse of their leader, much less walk away from that encounter.

From outside, the three of us heard a voice. Nobody understood what that person was saying, but I knew from the tone it was urgent. Astrid bolted up and ran to the door, opening it to reveal Fishlegs. He was wrapped in a heavy coat but still shivering. And just before Astrid shut the door behind him, I noticed the sun was already gone for the night.

Fishlegs's teeth were chattering so hard I thought he might crack something. As he slowly limped past me, I noticed he was bleeding from a small puncture mark in his right forearm. He sat down near the fire, unmindful of the open wound. His face and hands were a light blue, and his lips were almost purple.

"So cold…" he mumbled. "So cold…" He shivered, edging closer to the fire.

Astrid and I looked at each other in worry. I heard Toothless grunt from behind me. He was worried about Fishlegs too.

I slowly walked into his field of vision and knelt. "What's going on?" I whispered.

He painstakingly moved his eyes to meet mine. Never blinked. "I…I don't know," he stammered. "M-Meatlug's…dead." He kept his eyes locked to mine as he drew his knees to his chest. I couldn't look away as he stopped moving.


	8. Chapter 8

I tore my eyes away from Fishlegs's petrified gaze as he slowly collapsed on the floor. On his side. Exactly how I had found Johann a couple of days ago.

"Is…is he dead?" Astrid whispered.

"I don't think so," I replied. I looked around Gobber's house. Toothless, Astrid and I were the only ones here. Gobber and Johann were somewhere else, hopefully sheltered. I took a deep breath and sighed, looking down at the table in front of me and Astrid. "The weather is freezing, and we can't be outdoors for more than five seconds," I mumbled to no one in particular.

"What's your plan?" Astrid asked gently.

"I don't know," I said, rubbing my forehead with my open palm.

"How are we going to get the Speed Stingers out of Berk?" she clarified. She waited for my response, but I stayed silent. No ideas. "You know the longer they stay here, the harder it will be to get rid of them," she added.

"Yes, thank you for making that absolutely clear to me," I said curtly.

"Hiccup, I'm trying to help. Maybe we can come up with an idea together. We've already decided a barricade won't work."

"What am I supposed to do!?" I shouted. "Wave my hands and hope the Speed Stingers will _magically_ disappear?"

"That would be nice," she said without missing a beat.

"Well, it's not gonna happen. I'm sorry to get your hopes up," I said sarcastically.

"Hiccup, you're the chief of Berk now. Everyone here is depending on you. You can't just give up like this."

A pang of dread hit me like someone had punched me in the stomach. I hadn't even thought about the consequences of my dad being incapacitated. "Way to rub it in," I said to the table in front of me after a long silence. "Every choice I've made about the Speed Stingers has led to more problems. How in Thor's name does that even remotely make me any kind of 'chief!?'"

"Would your dad do anything different?"

"Probably," I said quickly. "He would have barricaded the docks or something like that. Something so that we wouldn't have to worry about Speed Stingers."

"Your dad supported you from the beginning!" Astrid shouted. "If he didn't like an idea of yours, he would have suggested something different!"

I tried to stifle a short laugh. "And why was he crazy enough to agree with _my_ logic? In case you haven't noticed, we can't get to our food stores, we're trapped in our own homes, it's freezing outside, and most of the village is petrified! He could have avoided all of that!"

At that moment, the door opened, revealing Gobber supporting Johann. And another blizzard was making the cold feel that much worse.

"Hiccup, why are you so hard on yourself?" Gobber asked me as he walked Johann inside. He closed the door behind them. Johann was using a wooden crutch to keep the weight off his gashed leg. Gobber helped him into an empty chair at the table.

"Thank you, Gobber," Johann said quietly. Toothless grunted quietly at Johann, probably because he was less familiar with him.

I put my head into my arms on the table. "Great," I said. "Just fantastic. Now the entire world is gonna know we don't have a chief."

"Stand up, Hiccup," Gobber commanded. Against my better judgment, I slowly moved the chair away from his table and stood. "Look at me," he said. I did, although I could barely meet his eyes. "I heard most of your conversation from outside. Astrid's right. You're the chief for now. And, no, you haven't made any bad decisions."

"Have you looked around Berk recently?" I said impatiently.

"Oh, yes," he said quickly. "Nobody's dead, and we still have our food stores. So tell me why you think you shouldn't be chief?"

"Because I can't protect anyone here. That's why."

"I beg to differ, Master Hiccup," Johann chimed in. "I would have been dead if you hadn't found me."

I wanted to tell Johann that his situation was different. That he somehow "didn't count." But that was blatant disrespect to everyone in this household. And I knew I wasn't crass enough to blurt it out, especially to Johann himself. The fact was I _did_ protect him. Not only that, I saved his life. I thought for a few moments, trying to find an answer to Gobber's question. I knew I had one. I knew I just wasn't "chief" material. But I had no response. After a short pause, I looked away from Gobber, unable to meet his stare any longer. I had given up.

"Look at me, Hiccup," he said again. I took a deep breath and slowly moved my eyes back toward his. "You don't approach problems like your dad or anyone else here."

"Translated: incorrectly," I said before Gobber could continue.

Gobber rolled his eyes and said, "Are you gonna listen or do I have to tear your head open with this to help you listen?" He held up his prosthetic hook. Somehow, his tone was a little too serious for me to take it lightly. I sighed and made a small motion with my left hand for him to continue. "You did the right thing, making sure our food store was safe."

"And just how do you know the Speed Stingers haven't gotten to it already?" I asked, unable to keep silent.

"Easy. Those dragons are only out during the day."

"What?" Astrid said, making me jump slightly. I had forgotten about her when Gobber walked in with Johann.

"You heard me. I have no idea where they go at night, but there's not a single one in the village right now." I opened my mouth to speak, but Gobber cut me off. "How did Johann and I get here from the great hall?"

I knew Johann couldn't move quickly because of his leg. He and Gobber would have had to trudge through the cold and snow at a snail's pace. So Gobber must have been right about what he said.

"So, what?" I began. "Should I tell everyone they can go to the great hall now?"

"We've already done that, Hiccup," Gobber said. "Everyone who can still move has been to the great hall and back. That's why Johann and I were gone."

"And what about Astrid, Toothless and me?" I asked.

Gobber shrugged. "There's still time." He motioned his prosthetic hook in the direction of the great hall. "Go now if you want to. Just make it quick because nobody knows when the Speed Stingers will show up again."

I stood there, transfixed by what Gobber had just told me. I sighed and looked at Astrid. "Wanna join us?" I asked quietly. After a moment, she stood. "C'mon, Toothless," I said to my dragon. He raised his head and looked at me briefly before standing. He stretched with a yawn and lumbered in my direction. Toothless met my right hand with his snout, rubbing into my forearm. I relaxed feeling his touch again. I had completely forgotten about Toothless's little quirks throughout this Speed Stinger invasion. His staying close to me was one of them. When Toothless was within reach, I always knew I would be protected.

As soon as I opened the door, all three of us were blasted by a rush of freezing air. I was grateful Gobber lived near the main plaza, just across from the forge and armory. Walking to the great hall would take a couple of minutes at the most.

I waited for Astrid and Toothless to file their way outside and shut the door behind us. Climbed onto Toothless's back. Astrid looked at me quizzically before deciding to follow my lead. I helped her onto the saddle, but didn't hook in with my peg.

"That way, bud," I whispered to Toothless. I pointed toward the great hall. He grunted in reply and began loping in that direction. It didn't take long for him to reach the large double doors leading into the great hall. Astrid quickly dismounted and wrenched one of the doors open. Toothless lumbered past her with me still on his back. I heard an echoing clank as Astrid shut the door behind us.

A roaring fire was welcoming us in the large pit built into the floor. And at the back of the hall was a pile of fish. It was smaller than normal, but I didn't mind. During the winters, we always rationed our food to make sure nothing went to waste. I glanced around the hall and noticed it was completely empty, except for us three.

"Right here, bud," I said to Toothless. He stopped at the ledge surrounding the fire pit. The fire pit was between us and the fish at the back of the great hall. Where I could make sure he didn't greedily eat everything here. He stopped and let me dismount. Astrid stayed with him while I grabbed a basket, filled it with fish, and put two more on dishes for me and Astrid. I returned to Toothless and Astrid and realized just how hungry I was. Toothless, probably even more so.

I flipped the basket lid open, and Toothless dove in. He pulled a fish out with his mouth, looking at me. Swallowed it and grunted. And returned to his basket in silence.

Astrid and I worked skewers through our fishes because they weren't cooked. And held them in the fire. I kept Toothless within sight, ready to stop him if he started wandering too close to the fish in the back. Toothless finished the contents in his basket and looked around the great hall for a few seconds. I always wondered what he was thinking when he simply glanced around his surroundings. Maybe he was scanning the area so he could be ready to protect me. There didn't seem to be much on his mind, because he looked at me in appreciation before lying on the ground next to my feet and curling up for at least some rest. After a few seconds he sighed in contentment.

There was nobody in the great hall except for us three, which was odd. Any time someone moved, it echoed for several seconds before fading into silence. Normally, there was background noise from people moving around or gossiping, but today, it was just…eerie.

I pulled my fish out of the flames once it began developing a blackened color. Examined it. Looked good enough to me. I began eating, relishing the taste of cooked food once again. I ate like it was my last meal, making sure to savor every bite. And before I knew it, the fish in front of me was a husk of bone and innards. I tossed the remains into the fire, where they turned black and sizzled audibly. I sat down on the stone ledge surrounding the fire pit, my legs overhanging the edge.

"Feel better?" Astrid asked.

I jumped slightly, completely forgetting about her again. I looked at her briefly and nodded. Couldn't bring myself to say anything to her. In actuality, what I told her was a complete lie. I didn't feel any better after that meal. Just less hungry.

We sat there in silence. The fire was crackling, and Toothless was breathing. Every time he exhaled, a plume of steam came out of his snout. I kept my eyes on Toothless. He looked so peaceful the way he was curled up near my feet, even though Speed Stingers were doing a phenomenal job of keeping us on-edge. Not that the winter weather was any less traumatic, mind you. But Toothless just seemed not to care right now. Maybe because he knew I was with him. And safe.

I got off the ledge and sat down next to Toothless. He looked at me curiously for a few seconds before resting his head on his paws again. I stroked along the side of his neck, hoping some of my fear and worry would leave. Toothless closed his eyes and sighed.

After a while, Toothless rumbled appreciatively. I smiled a little in return, feeling a little bit of the stress I had built up over the last few days disappear. Times like this reminded me constantly that Toothless was nothing short of magical. How he could make me feel better was a mystery, and at some point, I thought I would have gotten used to it. I thought I would have learned all of his tricks. But every time he did something like this, I felt exactly the same as the first evening we touched.

I didn't know how long I had been sitting next to Toothless, but after a while, I felt like all my pent-up fear, worry and stress had melted away.

Astrid sat down next to me. Pulled me into a loose hug and whispered, "You love him, don't you?"

I nodded silently, not wanting to break this moment. I was also kinda scared I would offend Astrid because Stormfly was petrified. Astrid didn't have her dragon for protection, but Toothless apparently did just fine for now. And for the record, I had no idea how Astrid was able to hide her worry about Stormfly. She was as close to her dragon as I was to Toothless.

As soon as Astrid let me go, Toothless leaned toward her and licked her on the side of her face with a low murmur. She gently pushed him away and said, "Do that to Hiccup." And began wiping Night Fury saliva off herself.

I caught her eye and couldn't hold back my smile. She smiled back at me. And neither of us could keep from giggling.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," I replied. And continued laughing. I tried to keep it generally quiet because I felt uncomfortable hearing so much echo in the great hall. I looked down slightly, trying to let that fit of laughter subside. And returned to stroking Toothless's neck. Toothless leaned into my hand, and groaned in appreciation.

In the back of my mind, I knew I had to do something about the Speed Stingers. And soon. I wondered if I could take advantage of them being asleep at night.

I stood, my hips and knees creaking from being on the floor for a while. Toothless grunted softly at me, wondering what I was doing. Without asking for Astrid's approval, I said, "I wanna try to find where the Speed Stingers go at night."

"Now?"

I shrugged. "Well, yeah. Why not?"

"Hiccup, they could be anywhere. They're probably hiding in some cave on the island."

"I don't want to scour the island," I told her. "It's too cold for that. I just want to check for any traces of the Speed Stingers. Maybe I'll find something."

Astrid thought for a moment and stood. "I'm coming with you." She started to walk past me and stopped. Wrapped her hand around my shoulder and kissed me on the cheek. Astrid grinned as she let me go, looking back at me as she walked toward the front entrance of the great hall.

Toothless grunted and pushed me from behind. I stumbled slightly, trying to catch my balance and then started to walk forward. Astrid was in front of me, and Toothless was at my back. I felt absolutely confident about my little plan. There was a good chance it wouldn't work, thanks to all the nooks and crannies around the island. But maybe we'd get lucky and happen upon the dragons' roost.

Astrid pulled one of the doors open, revealing a black sky with no stars. All the houses on Berk were lit from inside by their fireplaces, casting an odd yellow glow around the village.

I walked outside and shivered from the cold. Thankfully, there was only a slight wind blowing, which made the cold just a little more tolerable. And there was no snow falling from the clouds above us. Maybe, just maybe, tracks would be findable.

Through the darkness, I spied the outline of the armory and said, "Armory first, then we'll take a look."

All three of us walked toward the armory and entered. Adjusting to the low light, I quickly found the multi-purpose shield I had made for myself using Gronckle iron. I reached down to pick it up, but when my hand touched the metal, I jerked it back. The shield was unbelievably cold. I groaned, forcing myself to endure a few seconds of chilled metal on my skin and picked up the shield. I wrestled with it for a few seconds, trying to get my coat sleeve between my arm and the handle. When I had some free time, I was gonna wrap the handle and back of the shield in leather to keep the shield from being so agonizingly cold. I turned to Astrid and said, "Get whatever you need." And waited for a few seconds.

Astrid picked up a wooden shield, a small dagger and a bola. She tucked the dagger into her belt and said, "Okay. I'm ready."

I nodded to her, still reeling from the shock of touching the metal, and walked over to Toothless. "Ready, bud?" I asked him. He looked me in the eyes and grunted. His way of saying "yes."

I guided Toothless out of the armory, Astrid behind us, and hopped onto his back. Took the plate off the bottom of my peg and stowed it in the satchel on Toothless's saddle.

By sheer luck, I found a leather strap I had forgotten about. This would have been amazingly convenient to have in the armory a few seconds ago. The strap ended in two metal hooks that were used to hold my shield against my back. I hooked the strap on either side of my shield and looped it across my chest, over my left shoulder and under my right arm.

"You coming, Astrid?" I asked her. She nodded. I held my hand out for her, giving her a slightly easier time getting onto Toothless's back. For a brief second, I wondered where her shield went. I saw it on her back, similar to the way I had mine arranged. She must have picked up a leather strap in the armory.

She got situated and wrapped her arms around my chest. "Geez, that metal is cold," she observed.

"Just hang on to the leather," I told her. I felt her hands leave my chest and a second later, she grabbed onto the leather strap.

"Okay. That's much better," she said.

I nodded and clicked into the stirrup with my peg. "Let's go, bud," I said to Toothless. He grunted in approval before crouching slightly. Toothless jumped into the air and lifted off, sending a brief shower of white around the entrance to the armory. Within a few seconds, we were flying away from the village, hoping to find at least a trace of the Speed Stingers.


	9. Chapter 9

The cold air stung my face as Toothless soared over the island. We were flying over the outskirts of the village, where I knew on the lower part of the coastline was a network of caves. They were made by Mildew and his little army of Whispering Deaths. Oh, and can't forget…a Screaming Death.

"I can't see anything!" Astrid shouted over the rushing wind.

I didn't reply for a few seconds. I was thinking about where might be a logical place to start. Most likely, the Speed Stingers would be taking shelter somewhere that was hidden, but easy for them to access. It would probably be the first place they happened upon from the ice bridge, so I figured the coastline was a logical choice. They needed a route to get to a food source, so a way to get from the coast to the village was a must. Like the ramps leading from the village to the docks. And I guessed their shelter wouldn't be too far away from our silo or great hall. Otherwise, what was the point of trying to take over Berk?

"C'mon, Hiccup! Can't you hear me?" she shouted.

I turned slightly toward her, just barely able to see her out of the corner of my eye. "Any suggestions on where to start?" I asked. I was gonna go with Astrid's opinion, just in case she had an idea that was different than mine.

"I have no idea," she replied.

I turned forward again and nudged Toothless gently with my right knee. He grunted and straightened out his flight. I gently rolled toe-down and pushed down on Toothless's saddle. He started into a shallow dive. I leaned to my right to let Toothless spiral down toward the coastline. Both Astrid and I were on Toothless's back. The last thing I needed was to throw her off with some aerial antics. I kept the spiral loose, letting Astrid and Toothless adjust to where I wanted to go instead of surprising them.

As we crossed over the rocky wall guarding the island of Berk, the air became a lot colder. No land to soak up any heat. And below us, just barely coming into view, was the coastline. It was generally rocky, and during the winters, it was covered in snow. Moving toward the ocean, the snow line abruptly stopped, telling me where the tide peaked each day.

I rolled slightly toe-up to help Toothless slow down and hover a little more once I was able to notice small details in the coastline. Most telling were the gentle bumps in the snowscape, indicating rocks that were sticking out from the rest of the land.

I was looking mainly toward the rocky wall to our left when Astrid shoved me in the shoulder. Before I could say anything, I saw her hand shoot into my view and point forward. Maybe a hundred feet away was a small area of snow that didn't look fresh. In the low light, I couldn't tell what gave it a different texture than the rest of the coastline. But it was obvious something had given it that texture after it fell.

I nodded without turning back to Astrid, telling her I had seen what she pointed out. Rolled toe-up to let Toothless hover briefly. He grunted and slowed his flight down enough to land. Toothless contorted his back slightly and landed with his front feet, followed by his back feet. As the snow settled back to the ground, I noticed the different texture was only limited to a swath about twenty feet wide. On either side, the snow was a pristine white. But in the middle, it was much darker. There were several stones from the coastline that had been disturbed.

I latched the plate onto the bottom of my peg and dismounted from Toothless's back. As I crept closer to that area in front of us, I noticed the occasional footprint. There were several three-toed footprints on the outside that were obviously made by something that was running. And it looked like whatever made those footprints had vicious claws on its feet.

I turned back to Astrid and said, "I think this is it."

She nodded in understanding. Everything was silent for a while except for the crashing of the surf. Astrid sidled up to me and asked in a whisper, "Are those docks the only way to get to the village from here?"

I thought for a second. "I _think_ so," I replied. And turned to look at the rock wall. Where the tracks were leading.

As I peered into the darkness, Astrid nudged me in the shoulder and whispered, "Wh-what are you doing!?"

It didn't take long for me to give up. I couldn't see what the tracks led to. Although I had a pretty good guess about what it might be. I shrugged and whispered, "This has gotta be where the Speed Stingers are."

"That's great," Astrid replied without missing a beat. "Let's tear a hole in the docks and go home."

I almost said it. I was a split second away from agreeing with Astrid when a quiet, nagging doubt snagged a piece of my attention. "Oh, man. I, uh…I don't know if we can simply tear out some of the docks."

"Hiccup, why are you second-guessing yourself!? We don't have any time to waste!"

"I know," I said. "But remember when we were training the Terrible Terrors? When Fishlegs and Snotlout were trying to beat each other in every little aspect of life?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with the Speed Stingers?"

"What happened to Meatlug?" I asked pointedly.

Astrid thought for a few seconds. In the almost-nonexistent light, I saw a look of realization creep across her face. "Outcasts." She whispered it with resonance. She knew exactly where I was going with my argument.

"Nobody's really explored these caves yet. We don't know where they lead."

"All right. I'm out of ideas," Astrid said after a long silence. "I hope you have one."

This was one of those times when I wished reality wouldn't ruin everything. But the Speed Stingers would have found another way into Berk without any trouble whatsoever, even if Astrid and I did blow out a section of the docks.

I sighed, knowing we had one alternative left. I mulled it over in my mind for a few seconds, hoping I could come up with something else. _Anything_ else. But I couldn't. "We've gotta get the lead dragon away from here," I whispered.

"What do you mean 'away from here?'" Astrid asked.

"Wherever the ice bridge goes," I said, looking in that general direction. "Not only that, we've also gotta give those dragons a reason to stay away from Berk."

"And just how do you plan on doing all of that?"

I turned back to face Astrid. "Look, I don't have all of the answers. If you have anything to say, let me know." I waited for her to say something.

After a short moment, Astrid whispered, "You're still the chief here, you know."

"That's all you've got!?" I whispered. It was exceedingly difficult to keep my voice down. And if our little discussion continued, every single one of those Speed Stingers would wake up and attack without warning. "What are you getting at?"

"Hiccup, you have _people and dragons_ to protect," Astrid said. "Don't you think this is putting everyone in Berk at risk?"

"What am I supposed to do!? Go ahead, tell me! Since you know _so_ much more about 'how to be a chief!'"

A snarl came from the rock wall next to us. I blanched, feeling my lips turn white. I was pretty sure Astrid had the same reaction, because both of us turned simultaneously toward the sound. We weren't just staring at a rock wall anymore. I knew it was a cave based on how that snarl echoed. And it sounded a lot like a Speed Stinger.

Astrid and I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of us moved. Or breathed. But it didn't matter anyway. My heart was slamming so hard in my chest I could hear it. And I was generally certain that dragons could hear things like that.

From behind me, I heard a low grunt. Astrid jumped and clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a scream. I whirled around, yanking the shield away from my back to face whatever it was. A few seconds later, I heard a dragon exhale, sounding like the bellows I used in the forge. And a plume of steam met my shield. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was Toothless.

I lowered my shield, my heart still racing. Reached a hand out to where I thought Toothless was. I heard another grunt, and soon after, there was a gentle pressure on the inside of my left hand. Toothless was rubbing against my hand, telling me where he was. I stroked toward his back, feeling an ear flap. Toothless leaned a little more weight into my hand, but it didn't feel like he was asking for more attention. A second later, I could just barely make out his yellow-green eyes. They disappeared, and I felt Toothless nudge into my left shoulder with a quiet rumble. I stood there for a moment, letting Toothless work his magic. Maybe he could give me a better idea of what to do with the Speed Stingers too.

It didn't take long for Toothless to come up with an idea. I felt him sidle past me on my right side, which was also facing the rock wall guarding Berk from the ocean. Toothless nudged me gently with his shoulder away from the rock wall. He was telling me to leave here.

_This doesn't fix anything_, I thought. It was just procrastination. It was another day of being locked into our houses with barely anything to eat or drink. It was another day of worrying whether everyone else was still alive. Wondering how many people were petrified.

"Toothless, what are you doing?" I whispered to him as he continued gently pushing me toward the ocean. He didn't respond, except for a grunt and more nudging.

Astrid shuffled toward us and asked, "What's going on?"

I was about to tell her I had no idea, but stopped myself. Toothless had pushed himself between me and the cave housing the Speed Stingers. He was trying to tell me something. I remembered what Toothless did when Torch the Typhoomerang was waddling around Berk. Other than completely loathing Torch at first sight, Toothless always tried to keep himself between me and Torch. I thought he simply couldn't stand me giving my attention to something other than him, but later realized Toothless knew something I didn't. _Maybe he's aware of something I'm not_, I thought. Maybe he had a reason for getting between me and the Speed Stingers.

Against my better judgment, I decided to test whether Toothless was onto something. I took a long step to my right, trying to get around Toothless. Once I left his side, he grunted and put himself between me and the cave again. And began pushing me away once more. He was definitely thinking ahead.

"Hiccup?" Astrid whispered. Her tone of voice told me she wanted an answer to her question.

"I…uh…I think Toothless wants me away from here," I said.

Astrid huffed in frustration. "Why are you letting your dragon make this decision?"

Before I could answer, Toothless grunted again, this time a little more urgently. I brought my head close to his and whispered, "I hope you're right about this, buddy." Toothless blinked, signaling he knew I was talking to him. I turned to Astrid and said, "Toothless probably knows something we don't."

"What if he doesn't care about the Speed Stingers? Don't you think Toothless might not care about getting rid of them?"

"I don't know. But the last time I ignored him, the entire village almost got destroyed."

"And when was that?" Astrid probed.

"Torch," I said quickly.

"You mean Toothless tried to _warn_ you about the Typhoomerang?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I think Toothless is trying to tell us we shouldn't be here for some reason." I looked where I thought Toothless might be and could just barely make out his eyes. He was looking at me.

I heard Astrid grunt in alarm. Something must have startled her. "Hiccup, why is Toothless biting me?"

I glanced in her direction, just barely able to see her. "He's…he's not," I stuttered, wondering for a moment what she was thinking. "I'm looking directly at Toothless right n…" I stopped. All the blood drained from my lips when I realized what had probably happened.

Toothless's eyes disappeared just before I heard him roar in alarm. Without warning, he shot a blue fireball that missed Astrid's right arm by about a foot. It exploded with a hollow bang just behind her, throwing her to the ground. And it illuminated at least three Speed Stingers nearby. As the light from the fireball dissipated, I saw one Speed Stinger lift off its feet and fly backwards. As darkness crashed over us again, I heard a high-pitched shriek and a sickening thud from the Speed Stinger colliding with the rock wall. It was probably dead, but I wasn't planning on finding out any time soon. From inside the cave, several shrill roars echoed around, telling us the Speed Stingers were heading in our direction. And quickly.

"Astrid, come on!" I shouted. I ripped the plate off my peg, and it quickly slipped from my hands. I didn't crouch to look for it. There was no time. Our cover had probably been blown for a few minutes at the very least. Those Speed Stingers were inches away from gutting us. Astrid was about to be paralyzed, and there was a good chance Toothless was as well. And once again, I realized too late what Toothless was trying to tell me.

I saw Astrid's faint outline as she lunged in my direction. I felt a pair of hands connect with my left shoulder and chest. Grabbed onto Astrid's wrists and pulled her behind me. She kept one of her hands on my shoulders as I jumped onto Toothless's back. Astrid wasn't far behind. I felt around for the stirrup with my peg and shouted, "TOOTHLESS! GO!" Grabbed onto the handles at the front of his saddle as he took off running. As I found the stirrup, I jammed my peg into it, unsure of whether there was ice buildup. But with Speed Stingers this close, I wasn't going to take any chances. I rolled my peg around experimentally, feeling the stirrup respond through my knee. Toothless must have noticed too and took off, veering away from the village. I felt the air get colder as we gained altitude over the ocean.

_No, toward home_, I thought. _Not over the ocean_. But then I realized Toothless was circling over the ocean because he knew the Speed Stingers couldn't do anything about it. Toothless pulled into a wide bank, bringing the lanterns dotting the village back into view.

As we flew over the rock wall, I heard the Speed Stingers below us roaring in frustration. We soon crossed over Berk, and about ten seconds later, I spotted Johann and Gobber trudging through the snow toward my house. Where Stormfly, Thornado and my dad were probably still petrified. And soon, Astrid was gonna be added to that list.

Gobber was the first to turn back toward us. "There you are!" he shouted. "What were you two doing all this time!?"

Toothless landed five feet away from him, panting slightly. I dismounted, but Astrid stayed on his back. Her eyes had taken on a slightly glassy, unfocused look. "No time to explain! Just get inside!" I shouted back. Without giving Gobber or Johann any time to respond, I began half-sprinting, half-hopping through the snow because my snow plate was near the Speed Stingers' cave. Toothless followed in a slow gallop, Astrid somehow barely staying on his back. She was flopping like a rag doll.

"What happened to Astrid!?" he shouted.

"Just get inside!" I lunged toward my door and slammed it open. From the direction of the plaza, I heard a shrill roar echo throughout the village. Within a few seconds, I saw the faint silhouettes of a few Speed Stingers barreling in our direction.

Toothless jumped his way into the house, Astrid still on his back. Gobber yelped in panic and dove inside, followed by Johann, who still had a noticeable limp. I slammed the door shut and locked it. "Check the back door, make sure it's locked!" I shouted to no one in particular. Looked around, noticing my dad, Stormfly and Thornado were still motionless, exactly as I had last seen them.

About three seconds later, I heard Johann announce, "It's locked, Master Hiccup."

I turned to Astrid and put a hand on her side. She barely turned her head to look at me. I noticed her skin was slowly turning blue. Her lips and fingernails were almost purple. There was no use in asking her if she was okay because she obviously wasn't. She was gonna turn into a statue soon, just like Fishlegs did. I caught Astrid under her arms as she slid unceremoniously off Toothless's back. Lifted her just enough to help her to a standing position. Let her go. She silently took two steps and collapsed forward. Toothless dove underneath her, trying to catch her fall, but she slumped to her left, rolling slightly. As she hit the floor, her head snapped backwards and slammed into the wooden surface with a loud thunk. Astrid twitched a few times, her eyes unblinking and staring through the wall. And she stopped moving a few seconds later.


End file.
